m 

THE 


AMERICAN  JPj)ULTRY   BOOK; 

T 

BEING 

A    PRACTICAL    TREATISE    OF    THE    MANAGEMENT 
OF 

DOMESTIC  POULTRY. 
BY  MICAJAH  H.    COCK. 


"A  very  considerable  part  o'  all  the  property  of  *>\ery  nation  consists 
of  its  domesticated  animals  " — WM.  COOPER,  Ann.  Discourse. 


NEW    YORK: 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS,    PUBLISHERS, 

FRANKLIN     SQUARE. 

1861. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1843,  by 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


THE  Board  of  Agriculture  of  the  American  Insti- 
tute have,  by  a  Committee,  examined  "  The  Ameri- 
can Poultry  Book,  a  practical  Treatise  on  the  Man- 
agement of  Domestic  Poultry,"  and  are  happy  to 
assure  the  agricultural  community  in  New- York 
and  the  United  States,  that  this  valuable  work  ex- 
actly supplies  a  deficiency  which  has  long  been  felt 
in  this  department  of  the  Agricultural  Library. 
They  have  no  doubt  that  it  will  soon  find  its  place 
in  every  farmhouse,  and  wherever  a  taste  exists 
for  rural  habits. 

The   above   recommendation  was   unanimously 
awarded  at  the  meeting  of  the  Board,  May  18th, 
1843. 
Signed,  on  behalf  of  the  Board : 

NICHOLAS  WYCKOFF,  Vice-president. 
JNO.  O.  CHOULES,  Secretary. 


INDEX. 


»  Page 

Age  of  Fowls 27 

Age  of  Geese 153 

Age  of  Ducks 148 

Amputation  of  Wing     .    .  134 

Animal  Food 114 

Artificial  Eggs  ....  63 
Artificial  Incubation  .  .  96 
Artificial  Food  .  .  .  .110 

Ashes 54 

Bantam  Breed  ....  32 
Bantam,  Smooth-legged  .  32 

Blacksnake 72 

Bones  of  Birds  ....  22 
Broom  Corn  Seed  .  .  .140 

Buckwheat 141 

Capons 125 

Castration 115 

Cats .    .    69 

Change  of  Breed      .  36 

Chicken  Coops     .    .  105 

Chicken  Feed      .    .  104 

Clam-shells     ...  54 

Climate,  Influence  of  xi. 

Cocks,  Choice  of     .  36 

Colour  of  Fowls  .    .  34 

Confinement 39 

Constipation 130 

Corn 138 

Crop-sickness 131 

Crows 71 

Curassow 179 


Diseases  of  Chickens 
Diseases  of  Adults 
Domestication 
Dominico  Breed  . 
Ducks,  Common  . 
Ducks,  Muscovy  . 
Ducks,  Wood  .  .  . 
Ducks,  Canvass-back 
Dunghill  Breed  .  . 
Eccalebeion  .  .  . 


126 

131 

17 

34 

148 

152 

151 

152 

20 


Eggs,  Composition  of  .    .    73 
Eggs,  Shape  of    ....    75 

Eggs,  Size  of  .....    76 

Eggs,  Number  of     ...    79 
Eggs,  Preservation  of  .    .    86 
Every-day  Hen    ....    30 

Fasciola  Tracheae     .    .    .127 
Fattening  Coops  .    .    .    .112 

Fattening  Chickens      .    .111 
Fattening  Ducks  .    .    .    .149 

Feathers  of  Geese    .    .    .  155 
Feeding-hopper    ....    48 

Fences    .......    44 

Fish  as  Food    .....  114 

Food  of  Fowls     ....  138 

Foxes      .......    67 

Callus  Bankiva    ....    19 

Gallus  Domesticus  ...    20 
Gallus  Pugnax     ....    20 

Gallus  Cristatus  ....    20 

Gallus  Pusillus    ....    20 

Gallus  Pumilio    ....    21 

Gapes     .......  126 

Gizzard  .......    23 

Goose,  Tame  .....  153 

Goose,  Wild    .....  161 

Goose,  Mongrel    .    .    .    .161 

Goose,  Chinese    .    .    .    .162 

Goose,  Brant   .....  163 

Gravel     .......     54 

Guinea  Fowls  .....  173 

Halones  .......    75 


Hasty  Pudding 
Hen-house,  plan  of  .    . 
Horse-f90t  Crab  ... 
Incubation,  Changes  in 
Incubation,  Process  of 
Incubation,  Duration  of 


114 
59 

150 
90 
88 
90 


Instruments  for  Caponizing  117 
Italian  Breed  .....  31 
Kinderhook  Bait  ...  67 


INDEX. 


Laying,  Season  of  ...  83 
Laying,  Apartment  for  .  61 

Lice .133 

Lime 54 

Liver  of  Fowls  ....  24 
Lungs  of  Fowls  ....  24 

Malay  Breed 31 

Mallard  Duck  ....  148 
Manure  from  Poultry  .  .  58 

Molasses 113 

Moulting 25 

Minks 68 

Muskrats 69 

Nests,  Secret 65 

Nest-eggs 62 

Noxious  Vermin  ....    66 

Oats  as  Food 139 

Oil  of  the  Yolk  ...  75 
Origin  of  Common  Fowl  19 
Origin  of  Turkey  .  .  164 
Origin  of  Goose  ...  153 
Origin  of  Duck  ...  148 

Owls 71 

Oyster-shells 54 

Palings 41 

Pancreas  of  Fowls  ...  24 
Parasitic  Worms  .  .  .  127 

Peacock 172 

Pheasant 179 

Pigeons 174 

Poulards 116 

Poultry-yard 41 

Poultry-fluke 127 

Profits  of  Poultry  and  Eggs  144 
Proportion  of  Cocks  .  .  38 


Purging 130 

Rackoons 67 

Rats 69 

Rat-traps 70 


Reptiles,  Injurious 
Ricinus  Gallinae  . 
Roosting  Perches 

Roup 

Sand  . 


72 
43 
59 
132 
54 

Secret  Nests 65 

Size  of  Nests 64 

Skunks 68 

Snapping  Turtle  ....  72 
Squabs  and  Squeakers  .  177 
Statistics  of  Poultry  .  .  143 
Sunflower  Seed  ....  139 

Swan 163 

Thanksgiving  Turkey  .  .  170 
Time  for  gathering  Eggs  .  64 
Top-knot  Fowls  ....  29 

Treddle 75 

Value  of  Poultry  in   the 

United  States  ....  143 
Varieties  of  Fowls  ...  20 
Vermin,  Noxious  ...  66 

Water-tank 52 

Weasels .68 

Weight  of  Eggs   ....    73 

Wheat 139 

Whitewashing  ....  133 
Whites  of  Eggs  ....  74 

Worms 110 

Yellow-legged  Fowls   .    .    34 

Yolk 75 

Yolk  Bag 75 


WILL   SHORTLY   BE    PUBLISHED   BY   THE    SAME   AUTHOR, 

A  TREATISE   ON  THE 

DOMESTICATION  OF  THE  WILD  ANIMALS 
OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Natural  History  of  the  Domestic  Cock. — Its  Origin. — Species. 
— Varieties. — Anatomy.— Moulting. — Duration  of  Life  P.  17 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  different  Breeds  or  Races  of  Fowls  reared  in  the  United 
States.  — The  Game  Fowl.— Top-knot.— Italian.  — Malay.— 
Bantam. — Which  to  be  preferred. — Colour. — Change  of  Breed. 
— Choice  of  Cocks. — Proportion  to  the  Number  of  Hens.— In 
some  cases  dispensed  with  altogether 28 

CHAPTER  III. 

Necessity  and  Advantages  of  Conrinement.  —  Poultry-yard. — 
Substitute  for  it.  —Feeding-hopper.  —  Water-tank.  —  Gravel- 
box. — Lime. — Sand  or  Ashes 39 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Fowl-house. — Various  Plans. — Situation. — Arrangement  of  the 
Roosting  Perches.  —  Productiveness  in  Manure.  —  Laying- 
room. —  Nests.  —  Nest  Eggs.  —  Not  always  essential.  —  Best 
Time  for  gathering  Eggs. — Secret  Nests. — Noxious  Vermin, 
and  Means  of  destroying  them. — Kinderhook  Bait  .  .  55 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  Egg. — Its  Composition. — Anatomy.— Monstrous  Deviations 
in  Form,  Size,  and  Weight. — Distinction  of  the  future  Germe. 
— Quantity. — Season  of  Laying. — Uses  and  Value  of  Eggs. — 
Mode  of  preserving  them.  —  Those  unimpregnated  the  best 
for  that  Purpose 73 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Incubation.— Anatomical  Changes  in  the  Egg  during  that  Period. 
— Artificial  Hatching. — Chinese. — Egyptian  Mode. — French. 
— The  Eccalebeion. — More  curious  than  useful. — End  of  In- 
cubation   98 

CHAPTER  VII. 

First  Food  for  Chickens. — Various  forms  of  Coops — Substitutes. 
—  Forcing-frames.  —  Situation.  —  Clogs  to  prevent  Scratch- 
ing.— Food. — Artificial  Food. — Return  to  the  Poultry-yard. — 
Feeding-coop  .  .  104 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VIH. 

Various  Substances  used  in  fattening  Chickens. — Confinement. 
— Fattening-coop. — No  Gravel. — Sugar  and  Molasses. — Indian 
Meal. — Animal  Food. — Fish. — Objections  to  its  Use  P.  Ill 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Caponization. — Its  Origin. — The  Instruments. — Operating-table. 
— Precautions.  —  The  Operation.  —  Change  in  Habits.  —  In- 
creased Size  and  Value. — Operation  on  the  Female  .  .115 

CHAPTER  X. 

Diseases  of  Fowls. — -Gapes. — Chip. — Purging. — Costiveness. — 
Distention  of  the  Crop. — Inflammation  of  the  Oil-bag. — Roup. 
— Lice. — Amputation  of  the  Wing 126 

CHAPTER  XL 

Ordinary  Food  of  Fowls. — A  frequent  Change  necessary. — Esti- 
mate of  (he  comparative  Value  of  Eggs  and  Chickens. — Hints 
to  Writers  on  this  Subject.  —  Determination  of  the  Age  of 
Fowls  exposed  in  the  Markets. — Value  of  the  Poultry  m  the 
United  States 138 

CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Duck. —  Domesticated  Species. — Mallard.  —  Muscovy. — 
Wood  Duck. — Best  Mode  of  fattening  them. — Canvass-back 
Duck. — Attempts  to  domesticate  it 148 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Goose. — Domesticated  Species. — Common  Goose. — Large 
Bremen  Breed.— Wild  Goose.— Mongrels.— Chinese.— The 
Brant. — Plucking  Live  Geese  as  practised  in  England— Rem- 
edy proposed. — Extensive  Pastures  required. — The  Swan  153 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Turkey. — Its  Origin. — Food  in  Summer  chiefly  Insects. — 
Treatment  of  the  Young.  —  To  be  guarded  against  Wet.  — 
Mongrels. — Caponizing. — The  Christmas  and  Thanksgiving 
Turkey 164 

CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Peacock. — Merely  Ornamental. — Guinea  Fowl. — Pigeons. 
— Dovecote. — Squabs  and  Squeakers. — The  Pheasant. — The 
Curassow. — Conclusion  .  172 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  following  pages  originated  in  an  at- 
tempt to  collect  and  imbody  in  a  methodi- 
cal form  the  various  notices  respecting  the 
treatment  of  poultry  in  America,  scattered 
through  our  various  periodical  publications. 
This  was  made  exclusively  for  my  own  use. 
The  best  works  on  this  subject  are  in  for- 
eign languages  ;  those  in  English  being  ei- 
ther mere  translations,  or  meager  and  inaccu- 
ate  in  their  details.  It  was  obvious,  indeed, 
that  no  treatise  on  this  subject  adapted  to 
our  peculiar  position  in  a  country  extending 
through  twenty  degrees  of  latitude  had  been 
published,  and  the  necessity  of  an  Ameri- 
can work  became  apparent.  Whether  I  have 
rightfully  executed  the  self-imposed  task  is 
not  for  me  to  determine ;  but  if  the  fol- 
lowing pages,  by  exciting  public  attention 
B 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

and  awakening  honest  criticism,  should  give 
rise-  to  a  better  treatise,  I  shall  be  amply 
compensated. 

The  importance  of  poultry  as  a  branch  of 
rural  economy  is  little  appreciated  or  under- 
stood. Scarcely  anything  pays  the  farmer 
a  better  profit.  Fowls  require  most  atten- 
tion at  a  seasoa  of  the-  year  when  he  has 
comparatively  little  to  do,  and  during  the 
summer  and  autumn  they  can  almost  pro- 
vide for  themselves.  Under  favourable  cir- 
cumstances they  procure  their  own  food, 
and  then  the  profits  in  eggs  and  chickens 
form  a  clear  gain.  Many  small  farmers, 
indeed,  depend  upon  their  poultry  to  sup- 
ply them,  either  by  sale  at  market,  or  by  ex- 
change at  the  store,  for  their  smaller  grocer- 
ies, such  as  tea,  sugar,  snuff,  &c.  To  those 
who  have  travelled  through  our  Southern 
States,  the  frequent  occurrence  of  "  chicken 
fixens"  shows  their  importance  as  an  arti- 
cle of  food,  while  eggs  are  the  constant  ac- 
companiment to  the  perpetually-occurring 
bacon. 

Success  in  raising  poultry  depends  main 


INTRODUCTION.  XI 

ly  upon  a  suitable  climate,  and  vhenever 
that  is  unfavourable,  we  must  remedy  the 
evil  by  extra  attention  and  care.  The  im- 
portance of  climate  is  well  understood  by 
our  farmers,  who  have  uniformly  better  suc- 
cess in  a  hot  and  dry  season  than  a  wet 
one ;  and  our  poultry  suffer  more  from  a 
wet  winter,  even  if  mild,  than  from  one  that 
is  intensely  cold,  provided  it  be  clear  and 
dry. 

A  dry,  warm  climate  is  so  important  for 
the  successful  rearing  of  poultry,  that  in 
England,  for  example,  they  are  compelled 
to  depend  upon  foreign  countries  for  no  in- 
considerable portion  of  their  supply.  It  ap- 
pears, from  the  custom-house  returns  of  the 
year  1838,  that  eggs  were  imported  into 
England  (although  loaded  with  heavy  du- 
ties) from  the  Continent  to  the  value  of 
more  than  a  million  of  dollars.  Mowbray, 
the  author  of  an  English  work  on  poultry, 
instead  of  admitting  the  fact  of  the  unsuita- 
bleness  of  the  climate  of  England  for  such 
purposes,  treats  it  in  the  following  absurd 
manner :  "  In  Britain,  where  a  greater  quan- 


Xll  *         INTRODUCTION. 

tity  of  butchers'  meat  is  consumed  than 
probably  in  any  other  portion  of  the  world, 
poultry  has  ever  been  deemed  a  luxury,  and 
consequently  not  reared  in  such  considerable 
quantities  as  in  France,  Egypt!  !"  &c. 

The  importance  of  this  subject,  in  a  pe- 
cuniary point  of  view,  to  our  own  country 
has,  we  suspect,  been  little  appreciated.  It 
will  be  better  understood  when  we  refer  to 
the  agricultural  statistics  of  the  United  States, 
as  furnished  by  the  latest  census  published, 
namely,  that  of  1840.  It  should,  however, 
be  borne  in  mind,  that  the  returns  from 
North  Carolina,  Kentucky,  Michigan,  Flor- 
ida, and  Wisconsin,  are  incomplete,  and  not 
included  in  this  list. 

Value  of 
the  poultry. 

Northern  States $1,175,916 

Middle  States 4,085,312 

Southern  and  Western  States  and  Territories      5,671,382 

Total     ....  $10,932,610 

If  to  this  we  add  the  supposed  value  from 
the  omitted  states  and  territories,  we  shall 
have  for  the  whole  Union  a  total  value  in 
poultry  exceeding  twelve  millions  of  dol- 


INTRODUCTION.  Xlll 

lars.*  The  importance  of  this  subject  be- 
comes more  apparent  if  we  take  a  single 
state,  and  compare  the  value  of  its  poultry 
with  that  of  its  other  animal  products.  By 
*he  same  census  it  appears  that  in  the  State 
of  New-York  the  value  of  the  poultry  was 
$2,373,029.  This  is  more  than  the  value 
of  all  the  swine  in  the  same  state,  is  nearly 
squal  to  half  the  value  of  its  sheep,  the  en- 
tire value  of  its  neat  cattle,  and  is  very  near- 
ly five  times  greater  than  the  value  of  all  its 
horses  and  mules. 

The  importance  of  climate  in  rearing 
poultry  may  be  farther  inferred  from  the 
following  facts,  gathered  from  the  same 
census.  We  will  take  a  certain  district  in 
the  northern  and  eastern  sections  of  the 
Union,  where  the  climate  is  cold  and  damp, 
and  compare  it  with  a  district  of  nearly  an 
equal  population  in  the  Southern  States. 
Thus,  for  example  :  the  States  of  Maine, 
New-Hampshire,  and  Vermont  are  nearly 
equal  in  population  to  those  of  South  Caro- 

*  Since  the  above  was  written,  full  returns  from  all  the  states 
have  been  obtained. — See  chapter  xi. 


XIV  INTRODUCTION. 

lina  and  Alabama,  and  yet  the  value  of 
poultry  in  the  first  only  equals  $397,460, 
while  in  the  second  the  value  of  the  poultry 
amounts  to  $1,419,814.  In  the  Western 
States,  fowls  are  so  prolific  that  eggs  are 
commonly  sold  at  the  rate  of  90  cents  a 
bushel,  estimated  to  contain  forty-five  dozen. 
For  farther  details  on  this  subject  we  would 
refer  to  the  eleventh  chapter. 

In  many  parts  of  Europe,  the  care  of  the 
poultry  and  the  rearing  of  chickens  are  in- 
trusted exclusively  to  women  ;  and  this 
seems,  indeed,  peculiarly  within  the  prov- 
ince of  that  sex,  who  are  so  pre-eminent  for 
their  kindness  towards  the  brute  creation  and 
their  solicitude  for  helpless  infancy.  The 
writer  would  fain  hope  to  induce  his  coun- 
trywomen to  assume  the  charge  of  this  de- 
partment. Their  husbands,  fathers,  or  broth- 
ers would  soon  be  shamed  out  of  their 
present  careless  and  wasteful  practices. 
They  would  soon  learn  that  he  who  suffers 
his  poultry  to  range  through  his  house,  to 
drown  themselves  in  the  swill-tub,  to  scratch 
up  his  garden,  or  to  trespass  on  the  prop- 


INTRODUCTION.  XV 

erty  of  another,  obtains  the  reputation  not 
only  of  a  slovenly  and  shiftless  manager, 
but  of  a  disreputable  neighbour,  besides 
practising  a  miserable  and  wasteful  econ- 
omy. 

I  cannot.conclude  this  preface  without  re- 
turning my  thanks  to  Dr.  J.  J.  Smith,  who 
has  kindly  furnished  me  with  the  facts  im- 
bodied  in  the  first,  fifth,  and  sixth  chapters, 
and  obligingly  consented  to  assist  me  in  the 
correction  of  the  following  pages. 

THE  AUTHOR. 
MontviUe,  N.  Y.}  1843. 


THE 


POULTRY  BOOK. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Natural  History  of  the  Common  Barnyard  Cock  and  Hen. — Ori- 
gin.—Species.— Varieties.— Breeds  or  Races.— None  original- 
ly  from  America. — Anatomy. — Moulting. — Age. 

THE  origin  of  the  domestication  of  the 
common  cock  and  hen  is  unknown,  but  is 
supposed  to  have  been  among  "the  first  con- 
quests made  by  man.  In  the  earliest  human 
record  it  is  stated  that  "  the  Spirit  of  God 
moved  upon  the  face  of  tjie  waters."  Some 
commentators  upon  this  passage  say  thaJ 
the  original  word  is  brooded,  which  is  taken 
from  the  idea  of  a  hen  brooding  over  its 
young.  The  Hebrew  code  regulating  the 
use  of  food  is  altogether  silent  on  the  sub- 
ject of  fowls ;  but,  as  the  peacock  was  do- 
mesticated in  the  time  of  Solomon,  or  about 
2800  years  ago,  we  have  strong  grounds  for 
entertaining  the  be1'***"  that  the  more  useful 


18  NATURAL    HISTORY    OF    THE 

domestic  hen,  which  in  its  native  state  be- 
longs to  the  same  region,  must  have  been 
known  long  before  that  time. 

In  most  of  the  works  on  poultry,  the  do- 
mestic cock  is  declared  to  be  a  pheasant, 
and  we  accordingly  find  it  described  under 
the  improper  name  of  Phasianus  gallus. 
This  conveys  an  erroneous  idea.  Accord- 
ing to  modern  naturalists,  more  especially  a 
Dutch  writer,  Temminck,  our  domestic  cock 
must  be  separated  from  the  pheasant  (Pha- 
sianus), and  form  a  distinct  genus  under  the 
name  of  Gallus,  which  had  long  since  been 
proposed  for  it  by  a  French  naturalist.  It 
is  thus  described  : 

GENUS  GALLUS. — Brisson. 

Bill  smooth  at  the  base,  thick,  slightly  cur- 
ved. Nostrils  covered  by  an  arched  scale. 
Generally  an  erect,  fleshy  crest  on  the 
head.  Throat  with  fleshy  wattles  on  each 
side  of  the  lower  mandible.  Ears  naked. 
Feet  armed  with  strong  spurs.  Anterior 
toes  united  by  a  membrane  as  far  as  the 
first  joint.  Tail  of  14  feathers,  compress- 


BARNYARD    COCK    AND    HEN.  19 

ed,  more  or  less  arched,  ascending.  In 
the  female,  the  comb  and  wattles  less  de- 
veloped, and  the  tail  wants  the  long  pend- 
ant feathers. 

The  original  stock  or  species  from  which 
our  common  cock  is  derived  is  unknown. 
It  is  now,  however,  generally  supposed  to 
have  sprung  from  a  species  ( Gallus  Bankiva) 
still  abundant  in  a  wild  state  in  the  jungles 
of  Sumatra  and  Java.  Cuvier  supposes 
this  to  resemble  most  our  domesticated  fowl, 
although  Temminck  thinks  that  the  varieties 
8,  9,  10,  and  11,  mentioned  below,  origina- 
ted from  other  species  as  yet  undiscovered 
in  their  native  state  ;  as  they  all,  however, 
breed  freely  together  and  produce  prolific 
offspring,  this  may  well  be  doubted.  Hith- 
erto all  the  known  species  are  natives 
of  Asia,  and  it  is  very  doubtful  whether 
America  contains  any  species  from  which 
our  common  cock  can  have  been  derived. 
There  are,  however,  a  few  authors  whose 
travels  would  seem  to  imply  the  contrary, 
but  their  testimony  scarcely  amounts  to  any 


20  NATURAL    HISTORY. 

degree  of  certainty.  Acosta,  the  Jesuit,  as 
serts  that  the  common  cock  and  hen  existed 
in  Peru  before  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards. 
Sonnini)  who  travelled  through  the  forests 
of  Guiana,  saw  a  small  bird  about  the  size 
of  a  pigeon,  with  a  fleshy  crest  on  its  head, 
and  its  cry  resembled  exactly  the  notes  oi 
the  domestic  cock.  Stedman  also  mentions 
that  the  natives  in  the  interior  of  Dutch 
Guiana  raise  a  small  species  of  fowl  which 
appears  natural  to  the  country. 

The  following  are  the  principal  varieties 
or  races  found  in  the  works  of  authors,  and 
in  the  poultry-yards  of  the  curious. 

1.  Domesticus.     The  ordinary  breed,  such 
as  are  seen  on  every  dunghill,  of  all  sizes 
and  colours,  and  presenting  no  remarkable 
peculiarities. 

2.  Pugnax.     The  Game-cock;  known  by 
his  small  head  and  neck,  and  his  quarrel- 
some and  impetuous  disposition. 

3.  Cristatus.       Top-knot,  with  a  tuft  of 
feathers  on  the  head  instead    of  a  fleshy 
comb. 

4.  Pusillus.     The  Bantam.     Dwarfish  in 
size,  the  legs  feathered. 


NATURAL    HISTORY.  21 

5.  Pumilio.  The  Smooth  Bantam.  Dwarf- 
ish ;  legs  not  feathered. 

6.  Giganteus.     Malay.     Very  large. 

7.  Pentadactylus.  Dorking.    Large,  with 
five  toes  on  each  foot.     This,  however,  is 
said  by  some  recent  English  writers  not  to 
be  peculiar  to  this  race. 

8.  Morio.      Negro  fowl.      Comb,    wat- 
tles, skin,  and  covering  of  the  bones  black. 
From  India. 

9.  LanaLus.    Silky  Hen.    All  the  feathers 
disunited  in  the  webs,  and  resembling  silk. 
From  Japan. 

10.  Crispus.     Frizzled  or  Friesland  hen. 
All  the  feathers  reversed,  and,  as  it  were, 
curled.       Smaller    than    common    poultry. 
Java.     Japan. 

11.  Ecaudatus.      Rumplcss   hen.     With 
no   tail ;     the    last   caudal    vertebra    being 
wanting.     Ceylon.     In  alluding  to  this  va- 
riety, Button  asserts  that  the  greater  part  of 
the  cocks  and  hens  of  Virginia  have  no  rump, 
although  they  are  unquestionably  of  English 
origin.     "  He  is  assured,"   he  says,  u  that 
when  fowls  are  transported  to  that  colony, 


22  ON    THE    BONES    OF    BIRDS. 

they  soon  lose  their  rumps  ;"  and,  taking 
this  for  granted,  gravely  imputes  it  to  the 
climate. 

These  are  the  principal  varieties,  and 
from  them  proceed  all  the  various  breeds  or 
races  found  in  our  poultry-yards.  More 
than  twenty  are  enumerated  by  authors,  but 
it  is  scarcely  necessary  or  useful  to  treat  of 
them  here.  Previous  to  describing  more  in 
detail  the  usual  races  found  in  this  country, 
we  conceive  it  to  be  highly  important  to 
say  a  few  words  on  the  structure  of  the  in- 
teresting animals  which  we  propose  to  rear. 
It  is  not  our  purpose  to  enter  into  minute 
anatomical  details,  but  simply  to  present  a 
few  observations  sufficient  for  the  general 
reader. 

The  bones  of  birds,  although  much  light- 
er, bear  a  close  resemblance,  in  their  num- 
ber and  position,  to  those  of  quadrupeds, 
with  striking  deviations,  however,  in  their 
shape.  The  bones  of  the  neck  are  more 
numerous,  and  vary  in  birds  from  nine  to 
twenty-three.  The  breastbone  is  much  ex- 
panded and  dilated,  and  all  the  bones  of 


INTESTINES,  ETC.,  OF    BIRDS.  23 

the  pelvis  are  firmly  united  to  the  back- 
bone. They  are  covered  with  feathers, 
which  are  kept  in  order  by  an  oily  substance 
obtained  from  a  small  gland  situated  on  the 
rump.  The  gullet  is  enlarged  at  its  origin, 
where  it  is  called  the  crop  or  craw,  and 
thence  the  food  passes,  after  some  little 
delay,  into  the  true  stomach  or  gizzard. 
This  is  composed  of  powerful  muscles,  and 
is  lined  with  a  thick  and  strong  membrane. 
Into  this  the  food  is  received  and  ground 
up,  which  process  is  aided  by  gravel  and 
other  equally  indigestible  substances.  The 
quantity  thus  taken  in  is,  doubtless,  reg- 
ulated by  the  sensation  of  the  stomach,  but 
this  instinct  is  so  far  deranged  in  domestica- 
ted birds,  that  we  have  known  death  to  en- 
sue from  over-distension.  In  one  case,  the 
cavities  of  the  gizzard  and  crop  were  filled 
with  gravel-stones  of  various  sizes  ;  in  an- 
other, the  same  parts  were  so  much  dis- 
tended with  the  common  yellow  rose  bug, 
that  death  ensued. 

The  intestines  and  organs  connected  with 
generation  terminate  by  a  common  opening 


24  LUNGS    OF    BIRDS*. 

in  the  vent.  The  liver  is  large,  and  com- 
posed of  two  lobes.  That  of  the  goose, 
when  enlarged  by  disease  artificially  in- 
duced, is  a  luxury  highly  prized  by  epicures. 
The  pancreas  is  a  long  and  narrow  gland. 
The  spleen  is  small,  and  lies  between  the 
stomach  and  left  lobe  of  the  lungs. 

The  lungs  are  large,  and  fill  up  the  spaces 
between  the  ribs,  and  have  large  cavities 
communicating  with  the  bones,  and  extend- 
ing even  to  the  quills.  This  arrangement 
tends  to  make  the  bird  lighter,  and  to  assist 
it  in  flying.  An  experiment  is  noticed  by 
authors  to  show  how  complete  and  exten- 
sive is  this  connexion  between  the  bones  and 
the  lungs.  One  of  the  wing-bones  of  a  her- 
on was  broken  and  the  windpipe  stopped  ; 
breathing  was  carried  on  a  whole  day 
through  the  broken  limb.  The  kidneys  form 
a  row  of  irregular  lobes  on  each  side  of  the 
lumbar  vertebra?,  and  fill  up  cavities  in  the 
haunch  or  side-bones  ;  a  short  tube  leads 
from  each  to  the  vent.  The  urine  is  white 
and  chalky.  The  testicles  lie  across  the 
spine,  one  before  the  other,  and  a*e  of  a 


MOULTINtt.  25 

yellowish-white  colour,  varying  much  in  size 
at  different  seasons ;  they  communicate  by 
short  tubes  uniting  and  ending  in  the  vent. 
In  the  hen,  the  yolk-bags  are  enclosed  in  a 
single  ovary,  and  pass  out  by  a  wide  passage 
erminating  on  the  left  side  of  the  vent. 

We  have  stated  enough  for  general  pur- 
poses ;  it  only  remains  to  add  a  few  words 
on  that  particular  process  which  occurs  pe- 
riodically to  birds,  and  which  appears  con- 
fined to  no  latitude,  for  it  has  been  observed 
among  fowls  from  Iceland  to  the  equator. 
It  is  usually  known  under  the  name  of  moult- 
ing, and  implies  the  shedding  of  the  old 
feathers  and  the  acquisition  of  new  ones. 
During  the  summer,  the  feathers  of  birds  are 
exposed  to  many  accidents  :  many  fall  off 
spontaneously,  some  are  torn  off  in  their 
quarrels,  others  are  broken  or  damaged, 
and  in  many  species  they  are  plucked  off 
to  line  their  nests.  In  this  state,  when  au- 
tumn approaches,  they  become  feeble,  mel- 
ancholy, and  languishing;  their  feathers 
bristle  up,  and  they  are  constantly  engaged 
in  plucking  out  those  which  have  a  tendency 
C 


26  MOULTING. 

to  fall.  The  process  of  laying  ceases,  and 
when  killed  their  meat  is  meager  and  with- 
out flavour.  The  old  feathers  appear  to  be 
pushed  off  by  the  new  ones,  and  in  conse- 
quence of  this  renewal  their  covering  is  ren- 
dered more  perfect,  and  in  colder  climates 
they  are  better  able  to  bear  the  rigours  of  win- 
ter. Pullets,  by  which  we  mean  the  young 
of  the  first  year,  are  not  subjected  to  this 
process.  It  commences  with  the  second 
autumn,  and  every  successive  year  becomes 
more  difficult  and  of  longer  duration.  This 
fact  points  out  to  us  the  propriety  of  dispo- 
sing of  all  fowls  after  the  second  or  third 
year.  In  this  latitude,  the  process  of  moult- 
ing usually  takes  place  in  the  months  of  No- 
vember, December,  and  January,  beginning 
a  little  earlier  in  some  instances,  and  ending 
later  in  others.  It  is  said  in  the  books  to 
last  but  one  month  in  some  cases,  but  this 
has  not  been  confirmed  by  my  experience. 
Many  experiments  have  been  made  to  induce 
fowls  to  lay  during  this  period,  but,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  it  is  neither  advantageous  nor 
desirable.  Moulting  is  a  process  of  nature,  no 


LENGTH    OF    LIFE.  27 

doubt  instituted  for  wise  and  useful  purposes, 
perhaps  designed  to  interpose  a  period  of 
rest  after  the  long-continued  and  exhausting 
operation  of  laying  and  taking  charge  of  the 
young.  Any  artificial  means  to  interrupt 
this  natural  process  must,  I  should  be  dis- 
posed to  believe,  be  decidedly  injurious  to 
the  fowl.  There  is  no  doubt,  however,, that 
during  this  process  an  extra  attention  to 
their  food  and  warm  lodging  will  much  ame- 
liorate their  condition,  and  probably  shorten 
this  barren  period. 

The  age  of  the  domestic  cock  varies  from 
seven  to  ten  years.  They  have  been  known 
to  live  longer  than  this.  Buffon,  indeed,  as- 
serts that  they  may  reach  twenty  years  ;  but, 
unfortunately  for  them,  we  have  no  interest  in 
preserving  their  life  for  any  long  time,  and  it 
is  only  by  some  very  rare  accident  that  they 
are  allowed  to  die  of  old  age.  Aged  fowls 
are  readily  recognised  by  their  Jistlessness, 
the  few  eggs  they  lay,  the  great  length  of  the 
period  of  moulting,  the  length  of  the  spurs, 
which  are  also  found  on  the  females,  as  well 
as  the  disposition  to  crow,  and  the  rough- 
ness of  their  feet  and  combs. 


28  THE    GAME    COCK. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Of  the  usual  Breeds  or  Races  raised  in  the  United  States  - 
Game. — Top-knot. — Italian. — Malay. — Bantam. — Advantages 
and  Disadvantages  of  each. — Colour. — Change  of  Breed. — 
Size. — Proportion  of  Cocks  to  Hens. — In  some  Cases  entire- 
ly dispensed  with. 

WE  have  already  given  a  list  of  the  va- 
rious kinds  of  the  domestic  fowl ;  in  this 
chapter  we  propose  to  make  a  few  observa- 
tions on  the  relative  advantages  and  disad- 
vantages of  each.  The  first  on  the  list  is, 

1.  The  Game  Cock.  This  breed  is  readily 
distinguished  by  its  small  body,  long  and 
arched  neck,  and  small  head  ;  by  its  fierce- 
ness, its  restless  movements,  and  unquiet  eye. 
The  eggs  are  rather  small,  and  the  flesh  is 
considered  by  many  to  be  superior  to  that  of 
any  other  breed.  They  are  very  prolific  lay- 
ers, and  on  that  account  may  be  occasional- 
ly introduced  into  the  poultry-yard.  Great 
care,  however,  should  be  taken  not  to  allow 
too  much  of  the  blood  to  appear,  or  you  will 
have  your  yard  a  perpetual  scene  of  fighting 


THE    TOP-KNOT.  29 

and  confusion.  The  disposition  to  fight 
commences  with  the  chick  just  escaped  from 
the  shell,  and  they  injure  each  other  so  much 
that  they  are  extremely  difficult  to  raise. 
As  might  be  inferred  from  their  restless  dis- 
position, they  are  very  unsteady  sitters.  The 
high  price  which  the  game  cock  bears  may 
render  it  an  object  to  raise  them,  but  every 
right-minded  and  benevolent  person  will 
scrupulously  refrain  from  rearing  them  for 
such  brutal  purposes.  A  few  pullets  of  this 
breed  may  be  mixed  up  with  the  others,  but 
cocks  of  the  pure  blood  should  be  marked 
for  the  spit  as  soon  as  they  appear. 

2.  The  Top-knot.  This  is  the  variety  be- 
fore mentioned  under  the  name  of  Cristatus. 
Of  this  there  are  several  races:  The  Poland,' 
which  is  said  to  have  been  first  introduced 
into  Holland  from  the  East,  and  from  thence 
distributed  through  Europe  and  America. 
The  true  Poland  is  of  a  shining  black,  with 
a  tuft  of  white  feathers  on  the  head.  An- 
other race  is  the  Golden  Poland,  which  is 
highly  prized  by  the  bird-fanciers  in  Eng- 
land and  France  for  the  beauty  and  singu- 


30  THE    EVERY-DAY    HEN. 

larity  of  its  plumage.  It  is  of  a  bright  yel 
lo\v,  with  a  small  round  black  spot  on  each 
feather.  I  have  kept  this  breed  on  the 
faith  of  its  being  a  marvellous  layer,  but 
they  did  not  succeed  with  me.  Their  large 
tufts  of  feathers  on  the  head  prevented  them 
from  seeing  and  guarding  against  the  attacks 
of  the  other  fowls  in  the  yard,  and  they  mo- 
ped in  corners  and  pined  away.  Their  prop- 
erties as  layers  were  not  remarkable,  and 
the  chickens  were  exceedingly  tender  and 
difficult  to  raise,  so  that,  in  the  end,  I  gave 
them  away  to  others  who  wished  to  pre- 
serve them  for  their  beauty.  I  have  some 
of  the  mixed  blood  of  this  race  which  lay 
very  well.  Perhaps  this  breed  would  an- 
swer better  in  the  Southern  States.  The  top- 
knots should  be  occasionally  clipped,  to  pre- 
vent them  from  irritating  and  inflaming  the 
eyes.  There  is  a  general  impression,  which 
I  believe  to  be  correct,  that  all  of  this  race 
are  good  layers,  but  very  indifferent  sitteis. 
The  Every-day  Hen  is  another  sub-variety 
of  this  breed,  so  called  from  the  absurd  no- 
tion that  it  lays  an  egg  every  day  through- 


THE    ITALIAN    AND    MALAY    HENS.  31 

out  the  year.  Those  who  give  credence  U 
this  may  fortify  their  belief  by  the  authority 
of  Aristotle,  who  speaks  of  certain  fowls  in 
Illyria  who  habitually  lay  three  eggs  a  day. 
This  miraculous  performance  has,  however, 
not  been  witnessed  out  of  Illyria. 

3.  The  Italian  Hen.    So  called,  although 
it  was  introduced  into  Europe  from  the  Bar- 
bary  States.     They  are  mostly  glossy  black, 
and  are  more  particularly  distinguished  by 
the  enormous  size  of  their  combs  and  wat- 
tles, which  are  equally  conspicuous  in  both 
sexes.     They  are  in  great  repute  as  layers, 
but  are  delicate,  and  require  warm  lodgings 
in  winter.    I  should  think  them  better  adapt- 
ed to  the  Southern  States. 

4.  The  Malay.     This  is  the  largest  of  our 
breeds.     Dampier  says  that  he  saw  one  of 
this  breed  so  large,  that,  standing  on  the 
floor,  it  picked  up  crumbs  from  the  table. 
They  are  mostly  yellowish  or  reddish-brown. 
The  eggs  are  large  and  well  flavoured.    The 
flesh  of  the  chicken  is  not  very  delicate,  and 
is  better  adapted  for  broth   than   anything 
else ;   in  the  adult  it  is  coarse  and  stringy. 


32  THE    BANTAM. 

They  make  large  capons,  but  are  considered 
to  be  very  indifferent  layers,  and  not  very 
steady  sitters. 

5.  The  Bantam.  This  breed  is  kept  more 
for  its  grotesque  figure  than  for  profit,  ft  is 
at  once  recognised  by  its  feathered  legs  and 
diminutive  size.  It  is  a  good  layer,  but 
the  eggs  are  very  small.  There  is  another 
variety  of  this  breed,  which  ha-j  been  raised 
in  England,  which'  is  not  much  larger  than 
a  pigeon,  and  with  smooth  legs.  Aside  from 
the  curiosity  of  the  thing,  I  know  of  no  ob- 
ject in  raising  this  breed,  unless  for  the  un- 
worthy purpose  of  passing  them  off  for  chick- 
ens out  of  season.  The  prudent  farmer  will 
hesitate  to  introduce  them  into  his  poultry- 
yard,  unless  he  wishes  to  diminish  the  size 
both  of  his  eggs  and  chickens. 

These  are  the  chief  varieties  commonly 
known  among  us.  There  are  others  which 
I  have  not  seen ;  such  is  the  Dorking  fowl, 
an  English  breed,  originating,  I  presume, 
from  the  Malay.  It  is  very  large,  and  some 
of  them  have  two  hind  toes. 

The  question  has  frequently  been  asked, 


CHOICE    OF    COCKS.  '33 

Which  of  these  breeds  is  best  adapted  to 
the  poultry-yards  of  the  Middle  States  ?    To 
this  I  would  reply,  that  no  one  breed  will 
thrive  or  be  found  profitable  if  kept  exclu- 
sively.   The  natural  tendency  of  all  peculiar 
varieties  effected  by  domestication  is  to  de- 
teriorate, and  such  require  great  and  extra 
attention  to  keep  pure,  and  whenever  this  is 
attained,  they  are  found  to  be  delicate,  and 
very  liable  to  disease.     A  particular  breed 
may,  indeed,  be  highly  valuable  for  some 
especial  purpose,  but,  at  the  same  time,  with 
qualities  wrhich  render  them  a  nuisance  in 
other  respects.     The  most  recent  and  best 
work  on  this  subject  in  France,  Manuel  du 
Zoophyte,  lays  down  the  following  rule  for 
selecting  fowls  for  laying  :  "  The  best  layer 
is  black  and  of  a  middling  size,  the  head 
rather  large,  the  comb  red  and  pendulous 
on  one  side,  the  feet  bluish,  the  eye  bright, 
the  neck  thick  ;    she  should  be  noisy  and 
lively ;  she  is  old  at  the  fourth  year."     As 
a  general  rule,  however,  it  would  be  better 
to  obtain,  if  possible,  the  first  stock  of  the 
poultry-yard. from  a  colder  climate;  those 


34  CHOICE    OF    COLOUR. 

procured  from  southern  latitudes  are  ex- 
ceedingly sensible  to  the  cold,  and  rarely 
lay  except  during  the  heats  of  summer. 
Northern  fowls,  on  the  other  hand,  if  origi- 
nally good,  will  improve  very  much  by  re- 
moval to  a  warmer  latitude. 

With  respect  to  colour,  there  can  b'e  no 
particular  rule,  although  almost  every  one 
has  his  fancy  on  this  subject.  Some  prefer 
the  dominico  or  blue-spotted  hen  ;  others, 
the  oldfashioned  dunghill,  of  a  reddish  or 
yellowish  colour  ;  while  others,  again,  assert 
that  the  jet  black  hen  is  the  best.  My  own 
experience  is  in  favour  of  the  latter;  I  think 
they  are  more  hardy,  moult  with  less  diffi- 
culty, and  commence  laying  in  the  coldest 
weather,  while  fowls  of  other  colours  are 
drooping  and  inactive.  Among  experienced 
marketmen  the  preference  is  given  to  yellow- 
legged  fowls.  They  differ  in  no  remarkable 
degree  in  flavour  from  any  other,  but  they 
appear  handsomer  when  dressed,  and  on  that 
account,  I  suppose,  find  a  more  ready  sa~e. 
I  conceive  fowls  of  a  pure  white  colour  to 
be  the  least  adapte''  to  our  climate,  and  1 


CHOICE    OF    BREEDS.  35 

would  guard  against  introducing  them  into 
the  poultry-yard.  I  have  found  them  to  be, 
at  best,  very  indifferent  layers. 

Most  persons  are  desirous  to  have  fowls 
of  a  large  size,  but  this  may  be  carried  too 
far.  When  very  large,  they  consume  a 
greater  quantity  of  food,  and  do  not,  even 
with  this,  fatten  well ;  they  are,  in  general, 
indifferent  layers,  and  not  very  steady  sitters. 

The  better  practice  would  seem  to  be,  ir> 
order  to  make  a  poultry-yard  most  profitable, 
to  select  no  particular  breed.  Commence 
with  pullets  and  cocks  of  the  first  year,  of 
all  the  breeds  mentioned  above,  except  ban- 
tams, and  without  any  regard  to  colour  ex- 
cepting those  of  a  pure  white.  It  would  be 
well,  if  possible,  to  select  the  cocks  from  the 
same  yard.  Every  year  exchange  a  nest- 
ful  or  two  of  eggs  with  your  neighbours,  or 
such  as  have  good  fowls.  In  transporting 
eggs  from  a  distance  for  breeding,  jt  should, 
however,  be  borne  in  -mind,  that  much  mo- 
tion will  destroy  the  germinating  power. 
However  carefully  packed,  the  rude  motion 
of  a  wagon  will  render  them  unfit  for  hatch- 


36  CHANGE    OF    BREED. 

ing;  and  even  in  a  carriage  with  spr,  ^s, 
they  should  be  carried  by  hand.  By  caver- 
ing  them  with  lard  and  taking  care  not  to 
handle  them  roughly,  I  have  known  eggs 
laid  in  Hamburg  to  be  hatched  in  New- 
Jersey.  By  pursuing  steadily  this  practice 
of  exchanging  eggs,  you  will  yearly  infuse 
new  blood  into  your  stock,  and  avoid  the 
inconvenience  of  breeding  in  and  in.  With- 
out being  aware  of  this  fact,  many  farmer? 
find  their  stock  running  out,  as  they  term  it, 
by  which  they  mean  that  they  get  fewer  eggs 
every  year ;  and  in  order  to  remedy  it,  kill 
them  all  off,  and  resort  to  others  to  renew 
their  poultry-yard. 

The  choice  of  a  cock  is  a  matter  of  con- 
siderable importance.  He  should  be  active 
and  restless ;  not  very  large,  with  an  erect 
head  and  animated  eye ;  with  a  powerful 
voice,  thick  and  stout  bill,  long  spurs,  claws 
strong  and  slightly  crooked.  A  black  or 
deep  red  plumage,  or  that  variety  called 
birchen  back,  is  generally  preferred.  He 
should  be  young,  as  he  begins  tc  propagate  at 
four  months,  and  his  vigour  scarcely  lasts 


COCKS.  37 

more  than  three  years.  In  choosing  b  tween 
two  cocks,  Parmentier  proposes  a  pi'  a  which 
he  says  was  first  suggested  to  him  ]  y  a  lady. 
Make  them  fight,  and  select  the  victor.  Some 
cocks  are  peevish  and  quarrelsome,  beating 
and  annoying  the  hens  on  all  occasions.  If 
they  are  favourites,  pass  one  of  their  feet 
through  a  hole  in  a  piece  of  leather :  this 
has  the  effect  of  rendering  them  quiet  and 
tractable ;  but  a  far  better  method  is  to  ex- 
change them  away,  or  otherwise  dispose  of 
them,  as  soon  as  possible. 

The  due  proportion  of  cocks  to  hens  is  not 
yet  settled,  and,  indeed,  must  vary  with  the 
climate.  The  old  rule  was  one  to  ten  or 
twelve,  but  it  has  recently  been  maintained 
that  there  should  be  one  cock  to  four  or  six 
hens.  Where  the  chief  intention  is  to  raise 
chickens,  and  the  quantity  of  eggs  is  a  mat- 
ter of  less  importance,  this  proportion  may 
be,  in  these  latitudes,  near  the  truth.  When, 
however,  it  is  recollected  that  cocks  con- 
sume an  enormous  quantity  of  food,  it  would 
seem  desirable  to  reduce  them  within  the 
•mallest  possible  limits.  The  peace  and 


38  PROPORTION    OF    COCKS. 

quiet  of  a  poultry-yard  are  also  in  favour  of 
a  small  number.  In  my  own  case,  I  am 
anxious  to  raise  a  few  chickens  only,  and  to 
obtain  the  largest  possible  quantity  of  eggs  ; 
from  various  experiments,  I  should  suppose 
that  one  cock  to  twelve  or  fifteen  hens  is 
quite  sufficient. 

Mr.  W.  B.,  who  lives  in  the  southern  part 
of  this  state,  and  has  a  poultry-yard  of  from 
eighty  to  one  hundred  hens,  keeps  no  cock 
whatever.  He  is  certain  that  he  gets  more 
eggs,  and  he  thinks  that  the  presence  of  the 
male  only  induces  the  hens  to  sit.  He  cares, 
of  course,  nothing  about  chickens.  He 
buys  every  autumn  enough  of  these  to  re- 
place those  of  an  older  growth,  and  keeps 
none  longer  than  two  years. 

As  most  persons,  however,  who  keep 
fowls,  prefer  to  raise  their  own  chickens, 
the  better  plan  is  to  keep  a  few  cocks  with- 
in the  limits  recommended  above,  and  to 
keep  none  longer  than  two  or  three  years. 


NECESSITY    OF    CONFINEMENT.  39 


CHAPTER  III. 

.Necessity  and  Advantages  of  Confinement— Poultry-yard.— 
Substitute  for  it. — Appurtenances. — Feeding-hopper. — Water- 
tank. — Gravel-boxes. — Lime. — Sand  or  Ashes. 

THE  propriety  of  confining  poultry  within 
an  enclosure  has  been  often  questioned.  In 
some  parts  of  Germany,  large  landed  pro- 
prietors are  in  the  habit  of  allowing  them  to 
run  wild,  and  only  feed  them  when  the  snow 
is  on  the  ground.  Of  course  they  become 
quite  wild,  are  smaller  in  size,  the  comb, 
tufts,  and  tail  feathers  are  less  conspicuous, 
and,  in  fact,  they  approach  nearer  to  the 
original  stock.  Their  flesh,  also,  is  said  to 
have  a  wild  and  game-like  flavour.  Of 
course,  under  such  circumstances,  few  or  no 
eggs  are  obtained,  and  gamekeepers  are  ne- 
cessary to  feed  them,  and  to  protect  them 
from  the  depredations  of  the  smaller  quad- 
rupeds. 

When  a  few  only  are  kept  for  ornament 
about  the  grounds  of  a  mansion-house,  no 


40  POULTRY-YARD. 

particular  enclosure  is  necessary ;  but  when 
numerous,  and  it  becomes  important  to  ren- 
der them  profitable,  it  is  absolutely  necessa- 
ry to  keep  them  within  certain  limits.  No- 
thing has  a  more  slovenly  and  out-at-elbows 
look,  than  to  see  fowls  ranging  about  a  farm- 
house, roosting  upon  carriages  and  harness, 
intruding  into  and  defiling  the  kitchen,  and 
even  the  parlour,  dipping  into  the  swill-tub, 
scratching  up  the  garden,  and  committing 
other  abominations.  It  is  painful  to  see 
children  occupied,  more  than  half  their  time, 
in  chasing  them  out  of  the  garden,  the  wom- 
en— good  souls  ! — scolding  away  their  sweet 
tempers,  and  the  men  grumbling,  when  a 
few  dollars  judiciously  expended,  with  a  lit- 
tle extra  attention,  would  remedy  the  whole. 
No  man  who  respects  himself  or  the  rights 
of  his  neighbours,  no  one  who  regards  true 
economy,  or  even  the  ordinary  decencies  of 
life,  or  is  desirous  to  bring  up  his  children 
in  habits  of  order  and  neatness,  or  to  give  a 
good  example  to  others,  will  permit  his  cat- 
tle or  even  his  poultry  to  run  wild  about  his 
grounds  or  in  the  road,  or  more  frequently 


POULTRY-YARD.  41 

trespassing  upon  his  neighbours.  In  the 
case  of  poultry,  the  remedy  is  obvious,  sim- 
ple, and  unexpensive — a  poultry-yard. 

For  this  purpose,  select  any  suitable  piece 
of  ground,  of  from  two  hundred  feet  square 
to  half  an  acre,  according  to  your  wants  and 
means.  It  should  be  dry  and  airy,  and  yet 
sheltered  from  the  bleak  north  and  east 
winds.  If  possible,  a  porous  sandy  soil 
should  be  preferred,  with  a  spring  or  stream 
running  through  it.  It  must  be  surrounded 
by  a  high  fence,  with  a  poultry-house  and 
the  necessary  appurtenances  within  the  en- 
closure. An  extensive  poultry  breeder  in 
Connecticut  has  his  poultry-yard  surrounded 
by  palings  of  a  peculiar  shape.  On  the 
ground  he  uses  boards,  put  on  lengthwise, 
and  on  this  his  pales  rest.  These  pales,  in- 
stead of  being  cut  with  parallel  sides,  are 
broader  at  the  bottom  than  at  the  top,  so 
that,  in  fact,  he  has  a  close  fence  below  two 
or  three  feet  high.  This  is  a  great  advan- 
tage in  the  case  of  ducks,  geese,  and  young 
chickens,  and  to  exclude  noxious  vermin. 

In  this  country,  however,  few  are  willing 
D 


42  POULTRY-YARD. 

to  incur  this  expense,  and  we  have  fortu- 
nately at  hand  the  means  of  obtaining  an 
equal  degree  of  comfort  and  security  for  our 
fowls  without  any  very  considerable  outlay 
of  money. 

Every  barnyard,  if  properly  situated,  is 
placed  facing  the  south,  and  is,  or  should 
be,  enclosed  within  high  stone  walls,  or  a 
close  board  fence.  It  is  warm,  sufficiently 
large  for  a  flock  of  a  hundred  or  more  hens, 
and,  by  elevating  the  fence  a  few  feet  higher 
by  means  of  laths  or  pickets,  you  have  a 
convenient  and  suitable  poultry-yard  almost 
ready  made  to  your  hands.  The  dunghill 
we  also  know  to  be  their  favourite  resort. 
It  affords  them  a  grateful  warmth  in  winter, 
and  the  foul  seeds  thrown  out  in  threshing, 
the  undigested  grains,  and  the  larvae  and  eggs 
of  insects,  furnish  them  with  a  grateful  re- 
past. Many  articles,  likewise,  are  usually 
thrown  into  a  barnyard,  such  as  ashes,  re- 
fuse vegetables,  pounded  oyster  and  clam- 
shells, refuse  mortar,  &c.,  which  are  greedily 
sought  after  by  fowls ;  and  as  every  well- 
managed  barnyard  contains  a  well  or  cis- 


POULTRY-YARD.  43 

tern,  the  means  of  supplying  your  poultry 
with  water  are  ready  at  hand. 

The  only  objection  I  have  ever  heard 
against  this  arrangement  is,  that  if  many 
young  cattle  are  kept  in  the  same  yard,  they 
become  lousy,  in  consequence  of  being  so 
closely  in  contact  with  the  fowls.  I  sup- 
pose this  belief  to  be  entirely  unfounded,  for 
in  all  the  instances  which  I  have  seen  of  this 
abundance  of  lice,  it  was  obviously  to  be  at- 
tributed to  the  low  and  neglected  condition 
of  the  cattle  themselves.  Moreover,  the 
henlouse  (Ricinus  gallinBB)  is  both  gener- 
ically  and  specifically  distinct  from  those 
found  on  cattle,  and  it  is  impossible  for  these 
parasitic  vermin  to  live  and  increase  on  any 
other  kind  of  animal  than  that  to  which  they 
naturally  belong.  So  far  is  this  law  of  na- 
ture carried,  that,  of  the  three  kinds  of  ver- 
min found  on  man,  each  is  found  only  on 
that  particular  part  to  which  it  naturally  be- 
longs, and  is  scarcely  found  in  any  other 
situation. 

My  plan  is  to  elevate  the  fence  of  the 
barnyard,  by  means  of  pickets,  to  the  height 


44  POULTRY-YARD. 

of  ten  feet.     I  have  seen  the  same  purpose 
more  cheaply  effected  by  means  of  upright 
laths  pointed  at  the  end,  or  it  may  be  made 
more  ornamental  by   a  lattice-work  made 
of  the  same  cheap   material.     Some   fowls 
will  fly  oven  the  highest  fences,  especially 
thos'e  which  you  may  have  obtained  from 
the  lazy  and  improvident  farmers  described 
in  the  preceding  chapter.     It  will  be  well, 
therefore,  at  the  commencement,  to  begin 
by  clipping  one  of  their  wings  ;    and  this 
will,  in  general,  be  found   sufficient ;    but 
with   some  light-bodied   and  active   fowls, 
particularly  the  game  breed,  it  will  be  ne- 
cessary to  repeat  this  operation  every  year. 
Fowls  are  said  to  be  unwilling  to  fly  over 
pointed  palings,  as  they  must  first  alight  on 
them  before  getting  over  ;  but,  unless  they 
are  high,  they  will  occasionally  escape  over 
these.     I  have  seen 'a  fence  only  five  feet 
high,  with  a  thin  wire  stretched  along  it,  a 
few  inches  above  it,  and  slightly  in  towards 
the  yard.     The  fowl  aims  at  the  top  of  the 
fence,  but  when  she  gets  there,  finds  it  im- 
possible to  retain  her  position,  in  conse- 


POULTRY-YARD.  45 

quence  of  the  pressure  of  the  wire  against 
her  breast,  which  forces  her  back  into  the 
yard  before  she  can  make  another  flight. 
It  is,  however,  said  to  be  effectual,  and,  as 
the  experiment  may  be  made  with  great 
ease  and  at  little  expense,  it  is  worthy  of  a 
trial. 

In  one  part  of  this  yard  there  should  be  a 
small  door,  which  may  be  raised  about  two 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  in  summer.  A 
slight  call,  with  a  handful  of  corn,  may  be 
necessary  at  first,  but  in  a  few  days  they 
learn  to  watch  for  the  signal,  and  sally  out 
with  great  eagerness,  cropping  the  grass  and 
catching  insects.  They  return  of  their  own 
accord,  for  the  most  part,  towards  sunset,  or 
may  be  readily  induced  to  do  so  by  calling 
them  in  at  this  time,  when  the  door  is  clo- 
sed until  the  proper  time  of  the  following 
day.  There  is  some  little  trouble  in  this  at 
first,  and  the  better  plan  is  not  to  feed  them 
until  the  proper  time  for  their  return  to  the 
yard.  But  the  trouble  is  amply  repaid  by 
the  facility  which  it  affords  for  gathering  the 
eggs ;  we  are  also  enabled  to  watch  those 


46  POULTRY-YARD. 

hens  which  are  disposed  to  sit,  to  furnish 
them  with  the  proper  number  of  eggs,  or, 
if  required,  to  prevent  them  from  sitting  al- 
together. 

We  have  now,  at  a  small  expense,  a 
complete  enclosure,  and  it  remains  for  us 
to  specify  such  fixtures  as  are  required  for 
their  comfort  and  wants  ;  and  this  naturally 
leads  us  to  the  consideration  of  their  food. 
Fowls  are  said,  in  the  books  of  natural  his- 
tory, to  be  granivorous,  or  feeding  exclu- 
sively on  grain. or  seed;  and  for  this  the 
structure  of  their  stomachs,  or  gizzards, 
seems  particularly  adapted.  In  a  state  of 
domestication,  however,  the  case,  as  we  all 
know,  is  widely  different.  They  are,  in 
fact,  omnivorous,  and  eat  indiscriminately 
vegetables,  meat,  berries,  fruit,  seed,  fish, 
or  any  fatty  substances. 

In  the  ordinary  way,  farmers  are  accus- 
tomed to  suffer  their  poultry  to  provide  for 
themselves,  and  scarcely  ever  trouble  them- 
selves to  feed  them,  unless  in  very  inclem- 
ent weather,  and  when  the  ground  is  cover- 
ed with  snow.  This  is,  however,  a  nig 


POULTRY-YARD.  47 

gardly  practice,  and  recoils  upon  the  owner. 
Poor  cattle  are  signs  of  poor-witted  owners, 
and  the  same  rule  will  apply  to  poultry.  I 
have  been  frequently  asked  how  much  food 
is  requisite  for  any  given  number  of  fowls. 
To  this  I  reply,  that  I  have  no  certain  rule, 
for  I  keep  it  continually  before  them.  Some 
intelligent  farmers,  who  are  aware  of  the 
advantages  of  this  practice,  throw  down  the 
corn  in  the  ear  in  a  heap,  and  permit  *he 
fowls  to  help  themselves.  This,  however, 
invites  mice  and  other  vermin,  and  is  a  slov- 
enly and  wasteful  mode  of  proceeding. 

To  keep  them  constantly  supplied  with 
food,  I  had  been  in  the  habit  of  keeping  a 
box,  covered  with  a  coarse  grating,  con- 
stantly filled  with  grain  ;  but  it  was  liable 
to  many  objections,  and  did  not  suit  me.  I 
looked  into  the  English  works  on  poultry, 
and  found  an  apparatus  which  appeared  to 
answer  very  well  the  purposes  for  which  it 
was  intended,  but  the  mechanism  was  al- 
most as  complicated  as  that  of  a  watch,  and 
it  was  too  costly.  The  box  is  locked  above, 
to  keep  out  thieves,  and  is  closed  below,  to 


48  FEEDING-HOPPER. 

exclude  vermin ;  the  hen  hops  on  a  pole, 
which,  by  a  spring,  opens  a  little  trap-door, 
and  presents  the  food  to  view.  When  she 
is  satisfied,  she  jumps  off,  and  the  trap-door 
falls  and  closes.  It  is  very  ingenious,  but 
must  be  expensive,  and  liable  to  get  out  of 
order. 

I  saw  in  the  Cultivator  a  description  of  a 
feeding-hopper  so  superior  to  any  yet  in- 
vented, that   I  immediately  set   about   the 
construction  of  one  similar  to  it,  with  some 
slight  alterations.     Any  person  can  make  it 
after  the  following  directions.     In  appear- 
ance it  resembles  a  long  hen-coop,  but  with 
a  peaked  roof,  and  is  open  on  both  sides. 
Take  a  stout  plank  of  the  ordinary  width, 
Fig.  i.  and  of  any  length, 

but  it  is  scarcely 
worth  while  to  let 
it  exceed  six  feet, 
unless  you  have 
more  than  a  hun- 
dred fowls.  To  each  end  nail  a  piece  of 
the  same  plank,  eighteen  inches  or  two  feet 
high,  in  such  a  manner  that  the  long  plank 


FEEDING-HOPPER.  49 

which  forms  the  bottom  of  the  hopper  will 
stand  about  four  inches  from  the  ground. 
The  upper  part  of  these  end-pieces  is  cut 
angular,  so  as  to  receive  a  peaked  roof. 
Nail  a  thin  piece  of  board,  commonly  call- 
ed thin  stuff,  four  or  five  inches  wide,  along 
each  edge  of  the  bottom-plank,  so  as  to  rise 
about  an  inch  arid  a  half  above  the  plank. 
A  similar  strip,  but  not  more  than  two  inch- 
es wide,  is  to  be  nailed  from  one  end  to  the 
other,  connecting  the  upper  parts  of  the  end- 
pieces.  Against  the  inner  sides  of  the  two 
end-pieces  nail  two  battens,  meeting  on  the 
bottom-plank,  and  forming  the  letter  V,  as 
shown  by  the  dotted  lines  on  the  end  of  fig- 
ure 1.  The  distance  apart  of  the  upper 
ends  of  these  battens  will  be  determined, 
of  course,  by  the  width  of  the  end-pieces. 
Having  first  fastened  narrow  upright  slips 
along  on  each  side,  wide  enough  apart  to 
admit  the  passage  of  the  head  of  a  fowl  be- 
tween them,  by  nailing  them  to  the  top  and 
bottom  boards,  you  take  two  thin  boards, 
nine  or  ten  inches  wide,  and  place  them  in- 
side, resting  on  the  battens  on  the  end-pie- 
E 


50  FEEDING-HOPPER. 

ces.  If  the  feeding-hopper  is  long,  these 
boards  will  require  a  support  in  the  centre. 
They  should  not  approach  each  other  below 
nearer  than  half  an  inch,  nor  come  with- 
in half  an  inch  of  the  bottom-plank.  Then 
take  a  broad  thin  board,  or  two  if  necessa- 
ry, and  secure  them  firmly  on  one  side,  for 
the  roof,  letting  it  project  over  the  sides. 
The  other  side  should  be  attached  to  the 
ridge,  or  peak  of  the  roof,  by  iron  or  leather 
hinges,  in  order  to  permit  it  to  be  lifted  up 
to  pour  in  the  seed. 

The  hopper  is  now  ready  for  use.  You 
pour  in  half  a  bushel  or  more  of  seed ;  as 
the  fowls  eat  it  out,  it  continues  to  descend, 
and  is  prevented  from  escaping  by  the  nar- 
row slip  of  board  at  the  bottom,  and  the 
roof  prevents  it  from  being  injured  by  the 
weather.  I  think  there  would  be  an  advan- 
tage gained  by  continuing  the  roof  over  so 
far  as  to  shelter  the  fowls  themselves  from 
the  rain  while  feeding. 

If  this  apparatus  is  left  unprotected  in  a 
barnyard,  the  cattle  will  be  likely  to  over- 
turn it  to  get  at  the  seed.  It  may  be  neces- 


FEEDING-HOPPER.  51 

sary,  therefore,  to  drive  down  a  stake  at  each 
end,  and  secure  it  by  spikes  to  the  hopper ; 
but  a  better  plan  would  be  to  place  it  in  a 
separate  enclosure,  made  with  posts  and 
rails,  in  one  corner  of  the  yard.  This  need 
not  exceed  ten  feet  square,  and  it  may  be 
used,  likewise,  to  receive  other  contrivances 
for  their  wants. 

Although  it  may  appear,  at  first  sight,  ex- 
travagant to  feed  fowls  in  this  way,  yet  any 
one  who  chooses  may  satisfy  himself,  by 
direct  experiments,  that,  after  the  fowls  are 
in  good  order,  they  actually  eat  less  than  by 
any  other  method  that  has  been  devised. 

We  come  now  to  the  consideration  of 
water >  which  should  be  plentifully  supplied, 
and  of  the  best  quality.  Many  persons  think, 
because  they  see  fowls  helping  themselves 
to  dirty  water,  and  that  from  the  stagnant 
pools  in  a  barnyard,  that  the  quality  of 
the  water  is  a  matter  of  indifference  to 
them.  This  is,  however,  far  from  being  the 
case  ;  fowls  actually  do  prefer  and  thrive 
best  on  the  purest  water.  From  the  well- 
known  injurious  effects  of  salt,  there  is  great 


52  POULTRY-YARD. 

reason  to  suspect  that  many  of  the  obscure 
and  unknown  diseases  of  poultry  may  be  at- 
tributed to  the  saline  ingredients  contained 
in  the  water  of  a  dung-heap.  They  do  not 
partake  of  this  water  unless  they  have  no 
other ;  and  when  there  is  no  watering-trough, 
it  must  be  brought  to  them,  and  the  vessel 
kept  constantly  full.  I  have  lately  adopted 
a  contrivance  which  I  have  seen  recom- 
mended in  an  agricultural  paper,  and  du- 
ring the  summer  I  find  it  to  work  very  well. 
Take  a  perfectly  air-tight  barrel,  such  as 
has  been  used  for  cider  or  wine,  and  set  it 
up  on  end  on  any  suitable  platform,  or  a 
three-legged  stool,  about  two  feet  and  a  half 
from  the  ground.  A  small  hole  is  bored  in 
the  bottom  just  large  enough  to  admit  a 
small vwooden  or  leaden  tube  ;  even  a  long 
pipestem  might  be  employed  for  this  pur- 
pose. The  tube  should  ascend  three  or  four 
inches  through  the  bottom,  in  order  to  pre- 
vent its  upper  aperture  from  being  choked 
up  by  any  substances  accidentally  intro- 
duced with  the  water.  The  tube  descends 
into  any  shallow  basin  or  bowl,  or  trough  of 


WATER-TANK.  53 

wood,  earthen,  or  iron  ware.  At  the  top  of 
the  barrel  there  is  a  hole  to  pour  in  the 
water,  and  it  should  be  large  enough  to  ad- 
mit a  funnel.  The  lower  opening  should  be 
closed  while  filling,  and  when  filled  the 
upper  opening  should  be  carefully  closed. 
Then  withdraw  the  plug  from  the  tube, 
and  the  water  will  gradually  trickle  down, 
and  last  as  a  reservoir  for  many  weeks. 
This  water-tank  can  only  be  used  in  sum- 
mer ;  it  would  probably  burst  asunder  in  a 
severe  frost.  The  same  contrivance  on  a 
smaller  scale  may  be  found  more  economi- 
cal, and  quite  as  useful.  It  will  last  more 
than  a  fortnight.  Take  a  common  glass 
demijohn,  and,  having  stripped  off  the  wicker 
covering,  fill  it  with  water.  Let  this  be 
suspended  on  a  suitable  frame,  with  its  mouth 
downward  and  immersed  in  a  basin  of  water 
beneath.  To  prevent  the  fowls  from  scratch- 
ing up  the  dirt  around  ft  and  soiling  the 
water,  the  basin  or  trough  should  rest  on  a 
platform  of  boards.  The  object  in  taking 
off  the  wicker  covering  is  to  enable  us  to 
ascertain  when  the  water  is  nearly  exhausted, 


54  OYSTER-SHELLS. 

We  have  now  the  needful  apparatus  for 
keeping  them  constantly  supplied  with  food 
and  water.  There  are,  however,  other  sub- 
stances which  are  almost  as  essential  for 
their  comfort  and  vigorous  health.  The 
first  of  these  is  lime.  This  may  be  either 
pounded  oyster  or  clam  shells,  of  which 
they  are  very  fond  ;  or,  if  these  cannot  be 
obtained,  refuse  slacked  lime,  or  old  mor- 
tar. Of  all  the  substitutes  for  lime,  oyster- 
shells  are  the  best  and  most  preferred  by 
poultry,  as  they  contain,  in  addition,  the 
most  animal  matter.  In  a  poultry-yard  of 
a  hundred  fowls,  it  will  be  found  that  they 
will  consume  daily,  if  properly  broken,  the 
shells  of  ten  or  twelve  moderately-sized 
oysters.  Coarse  gravel  is  also  much  re- 
quired, and  fine  sand,  and  when  this  latter 
cannot  be  procured,  finely-sifted  ashes.  It 
has  a  neat  and  tidy  appearance  to  keep  all 
these  articles  in  separate  boxes  about  two 
feet  square,  and  I  have  found  it  advanta- 
geous to  place  them  together  with  the  feed- 
ing-hopper and  the  water-tank,  and  a  few 
secret  nests,  to  be  hereafter  described,  in  the 


HEN-HOUSE.  55 

small  separate  enclosure  above  mentioned 
within  the  barnyard. 

We  have  now  a  suitable  enclosure,  with 
all  the  requisite  conveniences  ;  but  we  have 
farther  to  provide  for  them  a  shelter  at 
night,  and  to  protect  them  from  the  inclem- 
ency of  the  weather,  and  the  attacks  of  nox- 
ious vermin  ;  this,  however,  will  form  the 
subject  of  a  separate  chapter. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Hen-house. — Various  Plans'. — Situation. — Arrangement  of  the 
Perches. — Productiveness  in  Manure.— Laying  Apartment. — 
Nests. — Nest  Eggs. — Not  always  essential. — Time  for  gath- 
ering Eggs. — Secret  Nests. — Noxious  Vermin. 

THE  poultry-house,  or,  as  it  is  more  com- 
monly called,  the  hen-house,  although  of 
paramount  importance,  is  in  this  country 
too  frequently  neglected.  In  a  climate  like 
ours  it  is  absolutely  necessary,  and,  where 
the  means  permit,  it  should  be  filled  in  with 
brick,  or  at  least  lathed  and  plastered.  In 


56  HEN-HOUSE. 

Europe,  where  considerable  sums  of  money 
are  expended  on  similar  objects,  the  ac- 
commodations for  poultry  are  on  a  large, 
and  even  magnificent  scale.  That  of  Lord 
Penrhyn,  at  Winnington,  England,  is  sup- 
posed to  be  the  most  costly  and  extravagant 
ever  built.  It  presents  a  front  of  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  feet,  with  a  yard  in  front, 
first  paved  with  brick,  and  then  neatly  cov- 
ered with  slate  and  painted  ;  it  has,  more- 
over, an  extensive  park  covered  with  grass 
for  the  fowls  to  range  in,  houses  for  the  at- 
tendants, granaries,  &c.  Such  an  expendi- 
ture would  be  deemed  unwarrantable  here  ; 
but  if  we  attempt  to  raise  poultry  on  a  large 
scale,  we  must  have  a  hen-house  roomy 
enough  for  the  fowls,  with  a  separate  cham- 
ber for  laying,  and  a  smaller  apartment  for 
grain-bins. 

Whatever  may  be  the  size  of  the  build- 
ing, it  should  be  in  a  warm  place,  with  a 
large  window  (carefully  protected  by  slats 
within)  looking  towards  the  south.  It  has 
been  recommended  to  place  the  hen-house 
partly  under  ground,  in  order  to  secure  a 


HEN-HOUSE.  57 

greater  degree  of  warmth.  This  is  a  good 
plan,  but  it  is  liable  to  some  objections.  It 
is  more  accessible  to  vermin,  such  as  skunks, 
minks,  and  weasels  ;  it  is,  I  think,  rathei 
more  favourable  to  the  increase  of  lice  on 
the  fowls,  and,  on  account  of  the  increased, 
difficulty  of  cleaning  it  out,  is  liable  to  be 
neglected.  I  have,  at  least,  observed  thi& 
latter  circumstance  in  several  buildings  thus 
constructed,  although  it  must  be  acknowl- 
edged that  this  is  not  an  objection  to  the 
plan  itself. 

The  hen-house  should,  of  course,  be  con- 
nected with  the  yard,  and  the  entrance 
must  be  by  a  small  opening  just  large 
enough  to  admit  a  fowl.  In  districts  where 
foxes,  minks,  and  other  noxious  animals  are 
numerous,  it  is  well  to  have  this  opening  a 
few  feet  from  the  ground,  with  a  small  pro- 
jection upon  which  the  fowls  can  alight.  It 
should  also  be  furnished  with  a  small  slide, 
to  shut  them  up  when  it  is  necessary  to 
catch  or  examine  them.  I  have  seen  the 
upper  part  of  a  cow-stable  converted  into  a 
fowl-house,  where  a  want  of  means  has  pre- 


58  HEN-HOUSE. 

vented  a  farmer  from  erecting  a  suitable 
building.  A  slight  floor  of  boards  is  con- 
structed about  two  feet  from  the  ceiling,  with 
roosts  a  few  inches  above  it.  It  is,  howev- 
er, a  dirty  plan,  and  only  to  be  adopted 
when  one  is  unable  to  do  otherwise. 

A  hen-house  for- one  hundred  to  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  fowls  need  not  exceed  ten  by 
sixteen  feet,  and  about  ten  feet  high  from 
the  sills.  It  is  recommended  by  some  to 
plank  the  floor,  while  others  prefer  a  sort 
of  grating  in  its  stead,  in  order  to  allow  the 
droppings  to  pass  through,  and  thus  keep 
the  house  cleaner,  but  I  think  it  unnecessa- 
rily troublesome  and  expensive.  The  floor 
should  be  of  earth,  which  is  to  be  frequently 
renewed  and  taken  away.  A  load  of  saw- 
dust or  old  tan  should  lie  near  the  door  : 
from  this  a  few  shovelfuls  are  occasionally 
thrown  in  :  by  attention  to  this,  two  or  three 
cart-loads  of  the  very  richest  manure  may 
be  obtained,  and  no  inconsiderable  part  of 
the  expense  be  defrayed. 

This  house  is  to  be  divided  unequally  into 
two  parts,  by  any  rough  partition,  with  a 


HEN-HOUSE. 


59 


Fig.  2. 


door  of  lattice-work  between  them.  The 
largest,  designed  for  roosting,  need  not  ex- 
ceed fifteen  feet,  and  the  smaller  one  five 
feet,  in  a  house  of  the  larger  size.  The 
poles  for  roosting  rest  horizontally  on  three 
narrow  strips  of  plank  which  descend  from 
the  upper  corners  of  the  house  to  the  ground, 
about  the  centre  of  the  floor.  Three  sim- 
ilar strips,  furnished 
with  roosting  -  poles 
or  perches,  descend 
from  the  opposite  up- 
per corner  nearly  to 
the  middle  of  the 
floor.  This  arrange- 
ment leaves  a  free  passage  to  the  smaller 
room,  as  will  appear  by  the  annexed  figure. 
Some  persons  have  these  strips  of  plank  at- 
tached above  by  leather  hinges,  so  that  they 
may  be  lifted  up  and  kept  out  of  the  way 
when  it  becomes  necessary  to  clean  out  the 
building,  but  in  this  plan  they  are  not  es- 
sential. The  roosting-perches  may  be  made 
of  inch  plank,  about  two  inches  wide,  with 
the  edges  rounded  ofF ;  they  may  be  about 


60  HEN-HOUSE. 

twelve  inches  apart.  There  is  a  prevalent 
idea  that  these  perches  should  be  of  sassa- 
fras wood,  but  I  should  much  rather  trust  to 
whitewashing  the  perches  and  the  whole 
interior  two  or  three  times  a  year.  I  had 
originally  constructed  the  roosting-perches 
on  a  row  of  strips  of  plank  descending  from 
one  side  of  the  building  to  the  other,  after  a 
plan  described  in  the  books ;  but  I  found 
them  so  inconvenient  that  I  at  length  adopt- 
ed the  above,  and  am  well  satisfied  with  the 
alteration.  It  would  be  a  great  improve- 
ment to  arrange  the  perches  or  roosting- 
poles  in  such  a  way  that  they  may  be  with- 
drawn, and  others  substituted,  when  they 
can  be  purified  by  submersion  in  water  for 
some  days.  The  best  mode  of  doing  this 
will,  of  course,  suggest  itself  to  the  intelli- 
gent farmer.  It  may  be  effected  by  a  dove- 
tail into  the  plank  strips,  or  by  iron  pins  or 
screws,  or  slight  wire  hooks. 

When  a  house  is  built  in  .the  ordinary 
way,  that  is  to  say,  a  mere  shell  of  boards, 
it  may  be  rendered  more  comfortable  in 
winter  by  stuffing  straw  behind  battens, 


HEN-NOUSE.  61 

which  are  nailed  against  the  sides.  This 
should,  however,  be  removed  in  the  spring. 
It  is  a  practice  with  some  to  shut  the  fowls 
out  of  the  house  entirely  for  two  or  three 
weeks  during  the  warmest  weather,  and  take 
advantage  of  that  time  to  clean  it  out 
thoroughly  and  renew  the  earth  on  the  floor. 
The  disadvantages  are,  that  it  gets  the  fowls 
into  bad  habits,  such  as  roosting  in  the  stable 
among  the  horses,  which  should  never  be 
permitted;  indeed,  there  is  a  general  im- 
pression that  hogs  become  sickly  and  pine 
away  in  consequence  of  eating  the  dung  of 
fowls,  which  is  dropped  in  their  pen. 

We  come  now  to  the  consideration  of  the 
other  apartment,  which  is  designed  for  the 
nests.  This  is  but  five  feet  wide,  or  just 
wide  enough  to  have  two  rows  of  nests  all 
round,  and  to  permit  a  person  to  enter  and 
examine  the  nests.  The  upper  tier  is  shel- 
tered by  a  steep  shed,  to  hinder  the  fowls 
from  roosting  on  it.  The  nests  should  be  a 
foot  square,  and  well  separated  from  each 
other ;  they  should  be  filled  with  short-cut 
oat-straw,  which  may  be  renewed  two  or 


62  HEN-HOUSE. 

three  times  during  the  year.  To  economize 
room,  it  is  often  recommended  to  place  the 
nests  in  the  same  chamber  in  which  the 
fowls  roost.  This  is,  I  think,  a  bad  practice. 
The  sitting  hens,  under  the  best  and  most 
careful  management,  become  lousy  in  such 
situations,  and  they  are  more  liable  to  be 
disturbed  by  other  fowls  either  laying  to 
them,  or,  by  insisting  upon  sitting  in  the 
same  place,  either  disturb  or  drive  them  from 
the  nest.  The  plan  just  stated  obviates  all 
these  inconveniences. 

It  is  usual  to  leave  a  nest  egg,  in  order, 
as  is  supposed,  to  induce  or  to  direct  the 
hens  where  to  lay.  For  this  purpose  one 
egg  is  usually  left  in  the  nest ;  but  as  this  is 
liable  to  burst  in  cold  weather,  an  old  or 
addled  egg  is  selected  ;  but  even  this,  sooner 
or  later,  becomes  broken,  and  leaves  the 
nest  in  so  filthy  a  condition,  that  it  is  long 
before  the  disgusting  smell  can  be  removed, 
or  the  hen  be  induced  to  lay  there  again. 
To  remedy  this  inconvenience,  some  put  in 
its  place  a  piece  of  chalk,  the  size  and  shape 
of  an  egg ;  this,  Ijowever,  does  not  last  long, 


NEST   EGGS.  63 

for  the  hens  soon  pick  it  to  pieces.     The  best 
substitute  is  a  piece  of  wood  turned  to  the 
proper  size  and  shape,  and  painted  white  : 
these  may  be  procured  of    any  turner  for 
about  two  cents  apiece.     In   France,  it  is 
usual  to  employ  artificial  eggs,  of  pottery, 
or  baked  earth  glazed,  and  these  are  un- 
doubtedly the  best  that  can  be  employed. 
Those  living  in  the  vicinity  of  a  brickyard 
or  pottery  may  obtain  them  upon  easy  terms. 
After  all,  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  any 
nest,  egg  is  necessary,   or   even   desirable. 
Where  rats  are  troublesome,  it  offers  too 
tempting  a  bait  to  leave  a  real  egg  ;  and  un- 
less a  hen  has  selected  a  very  suitable  and 
safe  situation,  where  a  nest  egg  might  in- 
duce her  to  return  to  the  same  spot,  and 
where  she  would  finally  hatch,  I  am  not 
sure  that  it  is  worth  while  to  leave  a  nest 
egg.     One  of  my  neighbours,  who  keeps  a 
yard  of  more  than  a  hundred  fowls,  uses  no 
nest  egg  whatsoever,  and  is  very  certain 
that  there  is  no  difference  in  the  quantity  of 
eggs  annually  collected. 

There  is  said  to  be  reason  even  in  roast- 


^4  NEST  EGGS, 

ing  eggs  :  how  far  this  may  be  true,  I  know 
not,  but  some  judgment  is  undoubtedly  to 
be  exercised  in  gathering  them.  If  they  are 
sought  after  in  a  noisy  and  boisterous  man- 
ner, and  at  irregular  periods,  the  fowls  are 
unnecessarily  frightened,  fly  off,  and  not  un- 
frequently  break  the  egg,  perhaps  just  ready 
to  be  excluded,  which  sometimes  produces 
a  fatal  disease.  The  best  time  for  gathering 
eggs  must  be  regulated  by  the  season.  In 
summer,  they  should  be  gathered  early  in 
the  morning,  and  in  winter,  just  before  the 
fowls  go  to  roost.  Where  noxious  vermin 
abound,  it  is  the  better  practice  to  collect 
them  at  all  seasons  in  the  afternoon. 

We  have  elsewhere  stated  the  proper  size 
of  nests,  which  should  be  a  foot  square,  and 
about  six  inches  deep.  Instead  of  fixed 
nests,  Cobbett  recommends  small  shallow 
baskets,  which  can  be  taken  down  frequent- 
ly and  washed.  They  may  be  placed,  he 
says,  against  the  sides  of  the  house,  upon 
pieces  of  wood  nailed  up  for  that  purpose. 
I  should  apprehend  some  difficulty  in  re- 
taining them  securely  in  their  position,  and 


FIXED  NESTS. 


65 


would,  upon  the  whole,  prefer  fixed  nests ; 
which  should,  however,  be  frequently  white- 
washed, and  the  hay  or  straw  removed  every 
two  or  three  weeks. 

An  ingenious  plan  for  fixed  nests  has  late- 
ly been  contrived  in  Connecticut,  which 
I  have  tried  with  complete  success.  Hens 
are  well  known  to  be  anxious  to  deposite 
their  eggs  in  secluded  places.  The  secret 
nests  here  alluded  to  are  well  adapted  to 
satisfy  this  propensity.  They  are  made 
thus :  Place  a  platform  of  boards,  two  feet 
wide,  and  say  ten  feet 
long  (though  it  may  be 
made  of  any  length), 
against  a  building  or 
a  close  board  fence, 
about  three  feet  from 
the  ground.  Along 
the  outer  edge  of  this 
platform  nail  a  board 
lengthwise  and  up- 
right, about  twelve  inches  high ;  leave  a 
space  open  in  the  middle  and  at  each  end 
eight  or  nine  inches  wide,  and  divide  the 


Fig.  3. 


Fig.  4. 


66  NOXIOUS    VERMIN. 

remaining  space  inside  into  nests  a  foot 
square  ;  this  leaves  a  passage-way  nearly  a 
foot  wide  behind  the  nests.  The  top  must 
slope  from  the  wall,  and  open  partly  or  en- 
tirely with  hinges.  These  nests  are  easily 
examined,  and  give  the  fowls  all  the  secre- 
cy they  seem  to  require.  Fig.  3  shows  the 
appearance  of  this  series  of  nests  when  clo- 
sed. Fig.  4  exhibits  a  view  of  the  interior 
arrangement. 

One  of  the  greatest  pests  to  a  poultry- 
yard  are  noxious  vermin,  and  in  some  dis- 
tricts they  interpose  serious  obstacles  to  the 
rearing  of  chickens.  These  are  foxes,  rack- 
oons,  rats,  skunks,  weasels,  minks,  muskrats, 
and  cats.  They  vary  so  much  in  their  dif- 
ferent degrees  of  cunning,  that  the  same  pre- 
ventive will  not  apply  to  all,  nor  are  the 
same  means  equally  successful.  There  is 
also  another  difficulty.  The  snares  employ- 
ed against  the  enemy  may  recoil  upon  our- 
selves ;  and  of  this  I  remember  a  very  re- 
cent example.  One  of  my  neighbours,  Mr. 
E.  B.,  who  was  much  annoyed  by  rackoons, 
set  two  steel  traps,  and  upon  visiting  his 


NOXIOUS    VERMIN.  67 

poultry-yard  in  the  morning,  found  two  of 
his  best  sitting  hens  dead  in  the  traps. 

When  a  rackoon  (Procyon  Lotor)  enters 
a  yard,  wo  betide  its  unlucky  inhabitants. 
He  sometimes  puts  to  death  fifteen  or  twen- 
ty fowls,  without  eating  any  part  of  them 
except  the  heads  or  the  blood,  which  is 
sucked  from  the  neck.  A  steel  trap,  baited 
with  the  heads  of  fowls,  and  placed  outside 
of  the  poultry-yard,  is  the  surest  mode  of 
capturing  these  animals. 

When  foxes  are  troublesome  in  a  neigh- 
bourhood, they  may  be  reduced  in  number 
by  joining  with  your  neighbours  in  hunting 
them  to  their  burrows,  when  the  snow  is  on 
the  ground.  They  are  not  to  be  taken  by 
ordinary  traps,  and  the  only  mode  I  can 
suggest,  and  which  I  have  known  to  suc- 
ceed, is  the  Kinderhook  bait.  This  con- 
sists of  a  piece  of  tainted  meat,  suspended 
by  an  iron  chain  a  few  feet  from  the  ground. 
In  this  meat  are  concealed  a  number  of 
small  but  strong  hooks,  attached  by  wire  to 
the  main  iron  cfiain.  When  poultry  are 
permitted  to  wander  about,  and  foxes  are 


68  NOXIOUS    VERMIN. 

troublesome,  it  is  recommended  to  rub  a 
small  quantity  of  tar  and  sulphur  about  the 
head  and  neck.  This  is  particularly  neces- 
sary in  the  case  of  geese,  for  whom  foxes 
have  had,  from  the  earliest  antiquity,  a  re- 
markable predilection. 

Weasels  are  often  very  destructive,  al- 
though, at  the  same  time,  they  rid  us  equally 
of  another  enemy,  the  common  rat.  I  have 
found  nothing  better  than  the  oblong  iron 
cage  used  for  rats,  with  a  spring-door  at 
each  end,  and  baited  with  a  piece  of  fresh- 
ly-fried meat,  or  the  head  of  a  fowl.  The 
nature  of  this  enemy  may  be  detected  by 
finding  your  fowls  dead,  and  the  only  exter- 
nal injury  apparent  is  an  open  wound  in 
their  throats. 

Minks  only  occur  near  streams  and  ponds. 
The  best  mode  of  getting  rid  of  these  is  to 
place  a  number  of  steel  traps,  baited  with 
meat,  and  carefully  rubbed  over  with  any 
aromatic  essential  oil. 

I  have  known  the  following  to  be  very 
successful  against  skunks";  but  it  should  be 
borne  in  mind,  that  the  traps  must  be  laid 


NOXIOUS    VERMIN.  69 

down  late  at  night,  and  removed  at  early 
daylight.  No  bait  is  necessary.  In  a  place 
where  these  animals  have  been  known  to 
visit,  put  one  or  more  eggs  on  the  ground, 
and  in  a  small  circle  around  it  lay  down 
half  a  dozen  steel  traps,  fastened  together. 
The  skunk  is  a  stupid  animal,  and  in  its  en- 
deavours to  reach  the  egg  walks  over  the 
traps,  and  is  thus  easily  captured. 

Muskrats  are  not  often  very  injurious,  but 
it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  get  rid  of  them. 
This  is  done  by  ascertaining  the  mouths  of 
their  burrows,  which  are  always  beneath  the 
surface  of  the  water.  Place  opposite  to  this 
a  long  square  box,  open  at  each  end  ;  the 
open  ends  are  furnished  with  sharp-point- 
ed wires  directed  inward,  and  just  large 
enough  to  permit  the  animal  to  squeeze 
through.  Two,  and  occasionally  three,  are 
taken  at  a  time  in  this  way. 

Cats  are  to  be  summarily  disposed  of 
whenever  they  are  caught  in  the  act  of  de- 
stroying eggs. 

Rats  are  great  egg  destroyers,  and  re- 
quire our  greatest  precautions  to  guard 


70  NOXIOUS   VERMIN. 

against.  Unfortunately,  too.  we  cannot  get 
rid  of  them  by  poison  without  the  hazard 
of  destroying  our  poultry  also.  London,  in 
his  Encyclopedia  of  Agriculture,  has  fur- 
nished the  description  of  a  very  complete, 
but,  at  the  same  time,  a  rather  complex  ap- 
paratus, which  may  be  worthy  of  trial. 

It  consists  of  a  long  square  box,  closed  at 
one  end.  Against  the  other  is  heaped  a 
quantity  of  brushwood,  sufficiently  open  to 
permit  rats  to  enter.  At  the  closed  end  is 
placed  a  quantity  of  grain,  and  this  end  is 
also  rubbed  with  anise,  rhodium,  pepper- 
mint, or  any  other  odoriferous  oil.  In  this 
state  it  must  remain  for  several  days,  fre- 
quently renewing  the  bait,  until  their  habit- 

Fl£-  5- ^     ual  passage  along  this  box 

L^. "  has  been  firmly  establish- 

ed. On  the  bottom  of  this  box  there  is  a 
trap-door,  as  seen  in  figure  5,  which  has 
hitherto  been  fastened  by  a  pin.  This  trap, 
which  may  be  made  of  tin  towards  the  tip, 
is  balanced  by  a  weight,  which,  when  the 
rat  has  fallen  through,  restores  it  to  its  for- 
mer position.  The  rat  falls  into  an  empty 


NOXIOUS    VERMIN.  71 

barrel,  from  which  a  long  tube  leads,  end- 
ing in  another  trap-fall,  from  which  he  is 
tumbled  into  a  tub  of  water  and  drowned. 

A  more  simple  mode  has  lately  been  ad- 
vertised in  the  newspapers,  and  which,  it  is 
stated,  has  been  very  successful.  Take  any 
water-tight  vessel,  and  fill  it  partly  with 
water  ;  pour  on  this  bran  nearly  to  the  top, 
and,  simple  as  it  appears,  more  than  a  doz- 
en rats  have  been  caught  by  it  in  one  night. 
It  need  hardly  be  mentioned,  that  it  should 
be  put  in  some  place  to  which  the  fowls 
have  no  access. 

Arsenic  is  frequently  employed,  but  is 
exceedingly  dangerous.  An  equally  good 
poison  is  the  powder  of  nux  vomica,  mixed 
up  with  Indian  meal,  and  scented  with  oil 
of  rhodium,  of  which  rats  are  peculiarly 
fond. 

In  some  districts  birds  of  prey,  such  as 
hawks  and  owls,  are  very  destructive  to 
young  chickens.  Where  fowls  are  suffered 
to  roam  about,  crows  will  seize  young  chick- 
ens upon  every  occasion.  This  danger  is 
much  diminished  where  guinea  fowls  are 


72  NOXIOUS    VERMIN. 

kept,  as  their  ceaseless  and  piercing  cackk 
frightens  these  birds  away.  A  toy  wind- 
mill, with  a  clapper  attached  to  it,  such  as 
is  used  in  corn-fields,  will  be  found  to  be 
useful  in  a  poultry-yard  when  chickens  are 
numerous. 

Against  reptiles  I  know  of  no  means  of 
guarding,  except  by  having  the  lower  part 
of  the  enclosure  around  the  poultry-yard 
close.  The  snapping  turtle  will  frequently 
seize  young  ducks  and  goslings,  and  drag 
them  under  water,  and  the  black-snake  will 
occasionally  make  a  dash  into  the  yard. 
This  latter,  however,  is  very  rarely  the  case. 


GRAVITY    OF    THE    EGG.  73 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  Egg. — Its  Composition. — Anatomy. — Monstrous  Deviations 
in  Form,  Size,  and  Weight— Pistinction  of  the  future  Germe. 
— Quantity. — Season  of  Laying. — Uses  and  Value  of  Eggs. — 
Mode  of  Preservation.— Unimpregnated  Eggs  best  for  that 
Purpose. 

THE  specific  gravity  of  a  new-laid  egg  at 
first  rather  exceeds  that  of  water,  or,  in  oth- 
er words,  sinks  in  water ;  but,  by  the  evap- 
oration from  it  through  the  shell,  it  soon  be- 
comes lighter.  The  mean  weight  of  a  hen's 
egg  is  875  grains  ;  of  which, 

The  shell  and  inner  membrane  weigh    93.7 

The  white 529.8 

The  yolk -     251.5 

The  shell  and  the  membrane  are  composed 
almost  entirely  of  lime,  with  a  little  magne- 
sia and  animal  matter.  More  accurately, 
it  is  composed,  in  a  hundred  partsf 

Of  carbonate  of  lime    ....  89.0 

"          of  magnesia    -        -        -  00.6 

Phosphate  of  lime         -        -        -       -    4.8 

"       of  magnesia     -        -        -        -    0.9 

Animal  matter 4.7 


74  ANATOMY    OF    THE    EGG. 

It  is  perforated  with  numerous  poreo, 
through  which  the  air  passes  during  incuba- 
tion. It  is  sometimes  entirely  wanting, 
which  is  generally  attributed  to  the  fact 
that  the  fowl  has  had  no  access  to  lime  be- 
fore laying.  The  shell,  however,  is  known 
to  be  the  last  part  formed,  and  this  with 
great  rapidity,  while  in  the  oviduct.  It  is 
probable,  therefore,  that  those  eggs  without 
a  shell  result  from  the  ardent  desire  to  lay — 
a  desire  which  does  not  permit  the  egg  to 
remain  twenty  hours,  or  long  enougTi  in  the 
oviduct  to  receive  its  hard  shell.  The 
French  poulterers  attribute  this  want  of  a 
calcareous  covering,  or  shell,  to  the  exces- 
sive fatness  of  the  fowl,  and  recommend  to 
diminish  the  quantity  of  food,  and  give 
chalk  in  the  water,  and  pounded  bricks 
mixed  with  its  food.  On  the  inner  surface 
of  this  hard  shell  we  notice  a  firm  white 
membrane,  termed  the  skin ;  at  the  large! 
end  this  forms  a  cavity,  filled  with  air,  anc 
which  enlarges  during  incubation.  The 
glair e,  or  white,  is  divisible  into  two  por 
tions,  or  layers,  each  surrounded  by  its  pe 


ANATOMY   OF    THE    EGG.  75 

culiar  and  delicate  membrane  ;  the  outer 
layer  is  the  most  fluid  and  transparent.  It 
is  chiefly  composed  of  albumen,  with  a  small 
portion  of  sulphur.  The  presence  of  sul- 
phur is  indicated  by  the  tarnish  which  it 
gives  to  silver  spoons.  The  yolk  occupies 
the  centre  of  the  egg,  and  is  enveloped  also 
in  its  peculiar  membrane,  called  the  yolk- 
bag.  Besides  albumen,  the  yolk  contains 
oil  and  phosphorus.  This  oil  was  formerly 
much  sought  after,  and  employed  by  the 
chemists  of  Europe  for  what  they  termed 
killing  mercury.  It  is  obtained  by  boiling 
the  yolks,  and  then  submitting  them  to  pres- 
sure ;  in  this  way  about  five  ounces  of  oil 
are  obtained  from  fifty  eggs.  From  each 
end  of  the  yolk  proceeds  a  white,  knotty 
body,  terminating  in  the  glaire  by  white,  floc- 
culen£  extremities  ;  these  are  termed  chala- 
zae,  or  cords.  A  round,  milk-white  spot, 
called  the  treddle,  and  surrounded  with  con- 
centric circles,  termed  in  the  books  halones, 
is  only  observed  in  such  eggs  as  have  been 
impregnated. 

The  shape  and  size  of  a  lien's  egg  are  too 


76  VARIOUS   SHAPES. 

well  known  to  need  description.  It  is,  how- 
ever, subject  to  great  variations  in  form, 
size,  and  weight ;  and  when  these  are  unu- 
sual, they  are  termed  monstrosities.  They 
are  sometimes  pointed  at  both  ends,  or  per- 
fectly round,  or  even  cylindrical.  Some 
years  ago  I  saw  a  hen's  egg  in  one  of  the 
museums  in  New-York  that  was  of  the  fig- 
ure of  a  kidney-bean,  with  one  of  its  ends 
much  elongated.  I  found  last  year,  in  one 
of  my  nests,  an  egg  of  an  exceedingly  irreg- 
ular figure.  It  was  about  two  inches  long  ; 
the  upper  end  was  drawn  out  into  a  fine, 
spiral  twist,  and  must  have  received  its  shape 
during  some  accidental  delay  in  its  passage 
through  the  oviduct.  The  size  of  the  egg 
is  also  subject  to  great  variations,  from  that 
of  a  quarter  of  an  ounce  to  three,  and  even 
four  ounces ;  but  the  average  weight  is  near- 
ly what  we  have  stated  above. 

Pullets,  when  they  first  commence  laying, 
drop  eggs  not  larger  than  those  of  a  com- 
mon quail,  and  I  have  seen  them  not  larger 
than  a  sparrow's  egg.  It  is  a  popular  be- 
lief that  such,  also,  are  dropped  when  the 


DOUBLE    YOLKS.  77 

laying  is  out,  as  the  farmers  term  it.  This 
we  believe  to  be  an  error,  derived  from  the 
appearances  presented  when  a  laying  hen 
is  opened  ;  those  nearest  the  vent  being  lar- 
gest, and  the  more  distant  and  less  devel- 
oped being  smallest.  It  is  admitted,  we  be- 
lieve, by  all,  that  not  only  the  size,  but  the 
flavour  of  an  egg,  is  much  improved  by  a 
plentiful  supply  of  the  best  food. 

There  is  another  monstrosity  connected 
with  eggs.  We  allude  to  the  double-yolked, 
or  twin  egg.  These  may  generally  be  de- 
tected by  their  unusual  size,  and  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  ridge,  or  elevated  seam,  on 
the  surface  of  the  shell.  From  some  inex- 
plicable cause,  these  double-yolked,  or  twin- 
eggs,  are  sometimes  found  to  be  very  com- 
mon in  a  poultry-yard.  In  the  Cabinet  of 
Natural  History  and  American  Rural  Sports 
is  an  account  of  a  hen,  belonging  to  a  Mr* 
W.  Seely,  of  Cumberland  county,  New- 
Jersey,  which  produced  regularly  nothing 
but  double-yolked  eggs,  as  large  as  those  of 
a  turkey.  These  should,  of  course,  be  re- 


78  MONSTROUS    EGGS. 

jected,  when  we  are  about  selecting  eggs  to 
place  under  a  hen. 

The  centenuum  ovum,  or  cock's  egg.  as  it 
is  called,  without  any  yolk,  I  have  never 
seen,  nor  do  I  believe  in  its  existence,  for 
the  obvious  reason  that  no  egg  can,  by  pos- 
sibility, be  formed  without  a  yolk.  In  the 
very  smallest  egg  laid  by  a  pullet,  the  germe 
of  the  yolk  can  be  detected.  The  Latin 
name  is  derived  from  the  absurd  belief  that 
it  is  the  hundredth  or  last  egg  that  the  hen 
can  lay.  There  is  another  malformation  in 
the  egg,  which  has  led  to  the  belief  that 
snakes  or  worms  are  contained  in  them. 
Dissection  of  these  eggs  has  proved  that  the 
supposed  snakes  or  worms  are  nothing  more 
nor  less  than  an  unusual  development  of  the 
chalazse,  or  cords,  which  we  have  before 
described.  The  last  monstrosity  we  shall 
advert  to  is  the  egg  with  a  double  shell; 
but  this  is  exceedingly  rare, 

Some  judgment  of  the  sex  of  the  future 
chick  has  beefr^  attempted  to  be  drawn  from 
the  shape  of  the  egg;  and  from  the  time 
of  Aristotle  to  the  present  day,  it  is  sup- 


FUTURE    GERME.  79 

posed  to  be  firmly  established,  and  is  im- 
plicitly believed,  that  a  sharp-pointed  egg 
contains  the  male,  and  the  rounded  the  fe- 
male germe.  By  this  rule  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  say  what  would  be  the  sex  from  a 
regularly  rounded  egg,  or  from  one  pointed 
at  both  ends.  Among  all  polygamous  birds, 
our  domestic  fowl,  it  is  quite  obvious 
.ere  must  be  more  females  than  males, 
and  yet,  by  the  above  rule,  the  males  must 
predominate.  A  better  test  is  to  examine 
the  egg  by  candlelight,  about  the  third  day 
after  incubation ;  a  small  vacancy  is  ob- 
served underneath  the  shell,  at  one  end  ;  if 
this  is  exactly  at  the  point,  it  is  supposed  to 
contain  a  male  germe ;  if  on  one  side,  it  is 
a  female. 

The  number  of  eggs  annually  produced 
varies  with  the  climate,  breed,  and  the  at- 
tention paid  to  the  hens.  Buffon  asserts 
that  a  hen,  under  favourable  circumstances, 
will  lay  one  hundred  and  fifty  eggs  in  a 
year,  besides  bringing  up  two  broods  of 
chickens  ;  but  this  appears  to  be  an  over-es- 
timate for  this  climate.  He  states  that  "  it 


80  NUMBER    OF    EGGS. 

is  said  that  at  Malacca  and  other  places 
hens  lay  twice  a  day  ;"  and  we  see  it  stated 
in  some  of  the  poultry  books,  that  one  par- 
ticular breed  will  lay  an  egg  every  day  in 
the  year.  A  poultry-yard  stocked  with  only 
forty  of  these  miraculous  fowls  would,  of 
course,  furnish  the  very  extravagant  number 
of  14.600  eggs  in  the  course  of  a  year. 

But  leaving  these  old  wives  fables,  we 
shall  record  several  statements  from  Ameri- 
can practical  writers,  which  may  enable  us 
to  form  some  judgment  on  this  matter.  It 
should  be  remembered,  however,  that  all 
these  have  been  recorded,  because  they 
were  thought  to  be  extraordinary  products, 
and  therefore  the  average  number,  under 
ordinary  circumstances,  must  be  consider- 
ably smaller. 

No.  1.  A  yard  of  forty  hens,  mostly  pul- 
lets, and  three  cocks,  yielded  in  ninety  days, 
between  January  and  May,  1440  eggs. — 
Cultivator,  1842,  p.  117. 

No.  2.  Another,  containing  60  hens,  yield- 
ed in  160  days,  between  February  and  Au- 
gust, 2655  eggs.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that 


PRODUCT    IN    EGGS.  81 

the  same  fowls  the  previous  year,  but  not 
so  well  provided  for,  yielded  only  1000  eggs. 
— Cultivator,  1841,  p.  69. 

No.  3.  Another,  of  83  hens,  gave  in  one 
year  7200  eggs.  The  expenses  were  $56 
43,  the  receipts  $123  33,  leaving  a  balance 
of  $66  90.— 16.,  1840. 

No.  4.  One  who  writes  more  in  detail, 
states,  that  when  his  fowls  commenced  lay- 
ing, he  had  37  hens  and  3  cocks,  and  when 
they  ceased  laying,  he  had  26,  the  average 
being  32.  In  about  300  days,  between 
January  and  November,  they  yielded  3,298 
eggs.  He  raised  no  chickens. — Ib.,  1843, 
p.  22. 

No.  5.  Eight  hens  at  Chelsea,  Mass., 
yielded  between  July  and  August,  in  49 
days,  293  eggs.— 16.,  1840,  p.  164. 

No.  6.  The  most  remarkable  case  of  fe- 
cundity is  that  furnished  by  Mr.  Mount,  in 
the  same  journal.  He  had  three  pullets  of 
the  Poland  or  top-knot  breed,  which  had 
been  hatched  in  June.  They  began  to  lay 
December  15  of  the  same  year,  and  from 
that  time  to  December  following,  laid  524 
G 


82  PRODUCT    IN    EGGS. 

eggs,  and  only  one  exhibited  any  desire  to 
sit.  During  this  period  they  consumed 
three  bushels  of  barley,  17  Ibs.  of  rice,  and 
a  quantity  of  barley-meal  and  pease,  the 
whole  not  exceeding  $3  71. 

An  examination  of  these  statements  nat- 
urally furnishes  us  with  the  following  con» 
elusions : 

First.  That  the  best  season  for  laying 
is  during  the  warm  months. 

Second.  That  when  food  is  amply  fur- 
nished, the  yield  of  eggs  is  more  than 
doubled. 

Third.  That  a  great  diversity  exists  be- 
tween the  maximum  and  minimum  number 
of  eggs  annually  produced.  It  will  be  found 
to  vary  from  50  to  175  annually. 

Fourth.  It  would  appear  from  No.  3  that 
the  profits  from  eggs  exceeded  one  hundred 
per  cent. 

Fifth.  With  a  particular  breed,  and  by 
exercising  attention  in  preventing  hens  from 
sitting,  the  maximum  quantity  of  eggs  may 
be  obtained. 

Sixth.  In  one  of  the  statements   given 


PERIOD    OF    LAYING.  83 

above  of  profit,  No.  3,  each  hen  gave  only 
86  eggs  in  the  course  of  the  year,  whereas, 
had  the  best  breed  been  selected,  the  profits 
would  have  exceeded  100  per  cent. 

Seventh.  It  certainly  appears  proved  that, 
to  obtain  the  largest  number  of  eggs,  the 
top-knot  is  the  best  that  can  be  employed. 

The  pullet  begins  to  lay  at  from  six  to 
eight  months  after  leaving  the  shell.  They 
usually  commence  in  winter,  or  early  in  the 
spring.  In  this  latitude,  the  season  of  lay- 
ing commences  some  time  in  February.  It 
is  usually  said  that  early  pullets  will  begin 
to  lay  in  November,  and  continue  to  lay 
during  the  whole  winter.  This  does  not 
accord  with  my  experience.  Early  chick- 
ens will,  indeed,  begin  to  lay  as  soon  as 
above  stated,  but  they  cease  with  the  first 
cold  weather,  and  do  not  begin  again  until 
late  in  the  spring ;  whereas  late  chickens 
will  begin  in  January,  and  continue  to  lay 
without  interruption.  I  am  at  a  loss  to  ac- 
count for  this  difference,  but  we  are  all  fa- 
miliar with  the  effect  of  a  sudden  sharp 
winter  day  upon  a  poultry-yard.  Not  an 


84       WINTER  LEAST  PRODUCTIVE. 

egg,  or  at  most  but  very  few,  can  be  obtain- 
ed, and  the  impression  of  this  cold  snap,  as 
it  is  called,  remains  for  some  days  after- 
ward. 

The  combined  effects  of  cold  weather 
and  moulting  render  the  winter  months  the 
least  productive  of  the  whole  year.  They 
may,  however,  be  induced  to  lay  during  the 
coldest  weather,  by  keeping  them  shut  up 
in  a  warm  and  well-lighted  room.  But 
even  this  is  not  certain,  unless  the  apart- 
ment be,  indeed,  quite  warm,  and  the  food 
regularly  and  abundantly  supplied.  One 
of  my  neighbours,  who  said  that  he  had  tried 
the  experiment,  complained  to  me  of  his 
want  of  success.  The  reason  of  his  failure 
was  apparent  when  I  examined  his  cold 
and  dark  poultry-house.  In  the  Continent- 
al poultry-books,  it  is  stated  that  fowls  lay 
every  day  except  towards  the  end  of  au- 
tumn, and  during  the  winter.  By  shutting 
them  up  and  giving  them  abundance  of  food 
and  water,  they  may  be  made  to  lay  all 
winter,  but  they  become  absolutely  steril  in 
the  spring. 


SEASON    OP    LAYING.  85 

When  laying  has  once  commenced,  it 
goes  on  with  considerable  regularity,  al- 
though fowls  vary  in  this  respect.  Some 
lay  one  egg  in  three  days,  more  commonly 
one  every  other  day,  others  every  day,  and 
others,  again,  but  this  is  very  rare,  two  eggs 
in  one  day.  This,  however,  I  have  never 
myself  seen.  In  general,  pullets  lay  more 
eggs  than  hens  of  the  second  year,  and  at 
the  end  of  the  fourth  year  they  for  the  most 
part  cease  to  lay  altogether.  After  laying 
from  twenty  to  thirty  eggs,  she  ceases,  or,  in 
popular  language,  her  laying  is  out :  she 
shows  an  inclination  to  sit.  If  she  is  pre- 
vented from  doing  this,  she  commences, 
after  an  interval  of  a  few  days,  to  lay  again  ; 
and  thus  it  goes  on,  with  one  or  more  in- 
terruptions of  a  similar  kind,  till  moulting 
commences,  when  laying  ceases  altogether. 

Various  cruel  and  unmeaning  practices 
have  been  resorted  to  in  order  to  break  up 
a  hen  from  sitting  ;  we  shall  not  mention 
them  here,  lest  the  unthinking  might  be  in- 
duced to  repeat  them.  Should  the  hen  be 
prevented  from  sitting  one  night  over  the 


-     86  USES    OF    EGGS. 

eggs,  it  is  comparatively  easy  to  break  her 
up  ;  but  if  she  has  covered  them  longer,  it 
becomes  more  difficult.  It  is.  generally 
sufficient  to  place  the  hen  in  a  coop,  with 
plenty  of  food  and  water  before  her.  When 
the  peculiar  ruffled  appearance  and  the 
cluck  which  accompany  the  desire  to  sit  go 
off,  which  usually  happens  in  about  a  week, 
she  may  be  set  at  liberty. 

The  uses  of  eggs  are  well  known  in  med« 
icine,  in  the  arts,  and  especially  in  cookery. 
They  form  one  of  the  four  great  ingredi- 
ents which,  by  a  slight  change  in  their  pro- 
portions, constitute  the  bulk  of  our  cakes  and 
confectionary.  They  are  easily  digested, 
and  highly  nutritious.  Even  when  hard- 
boiled,  they  are  (contrary  to  the  general 
belief),  as  appears  from  the  experiments  of 
Beaumont,  as  digestible  as  in  any  other 
form. 

To  keep  eggs  for  any  length  of  time,  it  is 
only  necessary  that  they  should  be  preserv- 
ed in  a  cool  place,  and  not  allowed  to  trans- 
pire. This  is  best  done  by  smearing  them 
with*  lard  or  oil,  and  packing  them  in  salt, 


PRESERVATION    OF  EGGS.  87 

They  should  be  arranged  on  their  smallest 
ends,  otherwise  the  yolk  will  adhere  to  the 
sides.  In  this  way  they  may  be  kept  for 
several  months.  I  am  informed  that  eggs 
formed  without  the  presence  of  a  cock  may 
be  set  upon  three  or  four  weeks  without 
producing  the  slightest  change,  being  as 
sweet  and  palatable  as  when  first  laid. 
This  may  afford  a  useful  hint  to  those  who 
wish  to  put  up  eggs  for  long  sea-voyages. 

In  1820,  a  tradesman  of  Paris  asked  per- 
mission of  the  prefect  of  police  to  sell  in  the 
market  eggs  that  had  been  preserved  a  year 
in  a  composition,  of  which  he  kept  the  se- 
cret. More  than  30,000  of  these  eggs  were 
sold  in  the  open  market  without  any  com- 
plaint being  made,  or  any  notice  taken  of 
them,  when  the  board  of  health  thought 
proper  to  examine  them.  They  were  found 
to  be  perfectly  fresh,  and  could  only  be  dis- 
tinguished from  others  by  a  pulverulent  stra- 
tum of  carbonate  of  lime  on  the  shell.  It 
was  discovered  that  they  had  been  preserv- 
ed in  highly-saturated  lime-water.  Com- 
mon sea- water  has  also  been  suggested  for 


88  PRESERVATION    OF   EGGS. 

the  same  purpose,  but  I  do  not  know  with 
what  success. 

In  some  parts  of  the  South  of  Europe 
eggs  are  preserved  by  dipping  them  for 
twenty  seconds  in  boiling  water,  and  then 
keeping  them  well  dried  in  finely-sifted 
ashes.  This,  however,  gives  them  a  gray- 
ish green  colour. 

By  the  lime-water  process,  eggs  have  been 
kept  perfectly  sweet  for  two  years. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Incubation. — Anatomical  Changes  in  the  Egg  during  that  Peri- 
od. — Artificial  Hatching.  —  Chinese. — Egyptian  Method.  — 
French.  —  The  Eccalebeion.  —  More  curious  than  useful.— 
End  of  Incubation. 

WHEN  a  certain  number  of  eggs  has  been 
laid,  the  hen  shows  an  inclination  to  sit 
This  appears  to  be  a  blind  instinct,  for  she 
will  sit  upon  one  egg  or  twenty,  upon  a 
piece  of  chalk,  or  a  stone  ;  and  if  fresh  eggs 
are  supplied,  she  will  sit  for  six  weeks. 


INCUBATION.  89 

During  this  period  she  will  not  leave  her 
nest  for  more  than  a  few  minutes  at  a  time, 
and  at  intervals  of  from  one  to  three  days. 
So  powerful  is  this  instinct,  that  they  have 
been  known  to  remain  on  their  nests  until 
they  have  perished  with  hunger.  To  pre- 
vent such  an  occurrence,  it  has  been  recom- 
mended to  feed  them  daily  in  this  situation ; 
but,  in  the  attempt  which  I  made,  they  soon 
began  to  lay  in  their  nests,  and  shortly  af- 
terward deserted  them.  The  better  plan 
seems  to  be  to  let  them  follow  the  dictates 
of  their  own  instinct,  and  when  they  desire 
food,  let  them  seek  for  it  in  the  poultry-yard. 

At  this  season,  too,  her  whole  nature  is 
changed.  From  being  peaceful  and  cow- 
ardly, she  becomes  a  noisy  termagant,  fight- 
ing with  all  her  female  friends,  and  avoiding 
chanticleer  as  her  most  dreaded  foe.  Her 
notes  change  to  a  peculiar  cluck,  which  lasts 
until  her  young  brood  can  shift  for  them- 
selves. 

In  the  selection  of  eggs  for  hatching,  we 
should  choose  those  of  the  average  size  and 
ordinary  form,  avoiding  those  with  a  double 
H 


90  INCUBATION. 

yolk  or  unusual  form,  and  taking  care  to  se- 
lect the  freshest  eggs,  and  those  which  have 
not  been  much  shaken.  If  you  wish  for 
dark-coloured  chickens,  you  have  only  to 
select  those  eggs  which  have  a  light,  red- 
dish-brown hue. 

Pullets,  or  even  young  hens,  should  not 
be  intrusted  with  a  nest  of  eggs  ;  it  is  better 
to  employ  older  ones,  who  sit  more  closely, 
and  are  better  calculated  to  take  charge  of 
a  brood.  The  number  of  eggs  to  be  placed 
under  a  fowl  varies  from  thirteen  to  nine- 
teen, according  to  the  size  of  the  hen. 

The  period  of  hatching,  or  incubation,  as 
it  is  called,  lasts  twenty-one  days ;  and  du- 
ring that  period,  the  following  changes  take 
place  in  the  egg : 

A  small,  shining  spot,  of  an  elongated 
form,  with  rounded  extremities,  but  narrow- 
est in  the  middle,  is  perceived  at  the  end  of 
the  first  day,  not  in,  nor  upon  the  cicatricula, 
but  very  near  that  part  of  the  yolk-bag. 
This  may  be  said  to  appear  beforehand,  as 
the  abode  of  the  chick  which  is  to  follow. 
The  yolk  augments  in  quantity,  at  the  ex- 


CHANGES    DURING    INCUBATION.  91 

pense  of  the  white,  the  fluid  part  of  which 
it  absorbs.  No  trace  of  the  chick  can  be 
discerned  before  the  beginning  of  the  sec- 
ond day,  when  it  has  an  incurvated  form, 
resembling  a  gelatinous  body,  with  large 
extremities,  very  closely  surrounded  by  the 
amnion,  which  at  first  can  hardly  be  distin- 
guished from  it.  About  this  time  the  ha- 
lones  enlarge  their  circles ;  but  they  after- 
ward disappear  entirely,  as  well  as  the  cica- 
trices. 

The  first  appearance  of  red  blood  is  dis- 
cerned on  the  surface  of  the  yolk-bag,  to- 
wards the  end  of  the  second  day.  A  series 
of  points  is  observed,  which  form  grooves, 
and  these,  closing,  constitute  vessels,  the 
trunk  of  which  becomes  connected  with  the 
chick.  This  is  called  the  vascular  surface, 
and  is  bounded  by  what  is  called  the  termi- 
nal vein.  The  trunk  of  all  the  veins  joins 
the  vence  portce,  while  the  arteries,  which 
ramify  on  the  yolk-bag,  arise  from  the  mes- 
enteric  artery  of  the  chick. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  third  day 
the  newly-formed  heart  is  discerned  by 


92  CHANGES    DURING    INCUBATION. 

means  of  its  triple  pulsation,  and  constitutes 
a  triple  or  threefold  punctum  saliens.  Some 
parts  of  the  chick  are  destined  to  undergo 
successive  alterations  in  their  form,  and  this 
holds  good  of  the  heart  in  particular.  In 
its  first  formation  it  resembles  a  tortuous  ca- 
nal, and  consists  of  three  dilatations,  lying 
close  together,  and  arranged  in  a  triangle. 
One  of  these,  which  is  properly  the  right,  is 
then  the  common  auricle  ;  the  other  is  the 
common  ventricle,  but  afterward  the  left ; 
and  the  third  is  the  dilated  part  of  the  aorta, 
or  main  bloodvessel  of  the  body.  About 
the  same  time,  the  spine,  which  was  origi- 
nally extended  in  a  straight  line,  becomes 
curved,  and  the  joints  may  be  easily  seen. 
The  eyes  may  be  distinguished,  looking 
black  and  large. 

From  the  fourth  day,  when  the  stomach, 
intestines,  and  liver  are  visible,  a  membrane, 
full  of  bloodvessels  (chorion),*  begins  to  form 

*  To  the  anatomist  the  appearance  of  this  membrane  is  very 
interesting.  On  its  surface  we  see  bright  red  vessels,  carrying 
blood  with  air  to  the  chick,  and  dark,  brownish-red  vessels  taking 
the  carbonated  blood  away.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  temporary  substitute 
for  lungs.  The  yolk  membrane  is  also  CDnnected,  but  in  a  two- 


CHANGES    IN    THE    EGG.  93 

about  the  navel,  and  increases  with  such  ra- 
pidity, that  it  covers  nearly  the  whole  inner 
surface  of  the  shell  during  the  latter  half  of 

fold  manner,  with  the  chick :  to  the  small  intestines  by  a  tube, 
and  by  bloodvessels  with  the  mesenteric  artery  and  the  venae 
portae.  During  incubation,  the  yolk  becomes  thinner  and  paler, 
by  the  admission  of  the  inner  white.  At  the  same  time,  numer- 
ous fringe-like  vessels  form  on  the  inner  surface  of  the  yolk-bag ; 
they  absorb  the  yolk,  and  convey  it  into  the  veins  of  the  yolk- 
bag,  giving  nourishment  to  the  chick.  Thus,  in  the  chick  just 
hatched,  there  is  only  a  remainder  of  the  yolk  and  its  bag  to  be 
found  in  the  abdomen.  These  are  completely  removed  in  a  few 
days,  leaving  only  a  trace  of  its  former  existence  in  a  scar  on 
the  surface  of  the  intestine. 

It  is  the  generally  received  opinion  that  the  blood  in  the  em- 
bryo chick  is  decarbonized  by  its  contact  with  the  oxygen  of  the 
atmosphere,  and  yet  it  would  appear,  from  a  series  of  experi- 
ments detailed  in  the  Medical  Reports  of  Guy's  Hospital,  London, 
that  the  natural  development  of  the  contained  embryo  goes  for- 
ward, and  is  perfected,  without  the  transmission  of  atmospheric 
air  to  arterialize  the  venous  circulation. 

The  lining  membrane  of  the  shell,  through  which  the  air  is 
supposed  to  pass  before  reaching  the  chorion,  was  observed  to 
increase  in  density,  and  become  apparently  less  permeable  to 
air  in  a  ratio  corresponding  to  the  extent  of  time  during  which 
the  process  of  incubation  had  gone  forward :  a  condition  directly 
opposed  to  that  which  might  have  been  expected  to  obtain,  as- 
suming the  correctness  of  the  above-mentioned  theory  of  decar- 
bonization.  It  then  occurred  to  the  author  of  these  experiments 
that,  in  the  cases  in  which  it  had  been  found  that  incubation  did 
not  go  forward  when  a  barrier  was  put  to  the  supposed  egress 
of  atmospheric  air,  that  a  source  of  fallacy  might  have  been  pres- 
ent, in  the  employment  of  a  substance  to  protect  the  shell,  which, 
from  its  noxious  qualities,  had  been  fatal  to  the  existence  of  the 


94  CHANGES    IN    THE    EGG. 

incubation.  This  supplies  the  place  of  thw 
lungs,  and  carries  on  the  respiratory  process 
instead.  The  lungs  themselves,  indeed,  be- 
gin to  be  formed  on  the  fifth  day,  but,  of 
course,  cannot  perform  their  function  while 

contained  embryo.  To  satisfy  himself  on  this  point,  he  repeated 
tbe  experiment  in  question,  in  the  following  manner. 

Having  selected  a  number  of  fresh  eggs,  as  nearly  of  the  same 
size  and  form  as  possible,  he  varnished  them  over  several  times 
with  albumen  which  had  been  allowed  to  stand  ibr  some  time 
in  an  open  vessel,  until,  by  evaporation,  it  had  acquired  con- 
siderable consistence ;  this  was  repeated  until  the  shells  appeared 
completely  lackered.  Then,  with  a  pencil,  he  marked  one  of 
them  into  equal  sections  like  the  divisions  in  an  orange,  and  cut 
a  piece  of  card  to  correspond  exactly  with  one  of  these  divisions ; 
then  a  great  number  of  papers  similar  to  this  card ;  and  macer- 
ated them  for  two  days  in  albumen,  until  they  were  thoroughly 
saturated,  and  so  soft  and  pulpy  that  they  could  be  readily  ap- 
plied to  the  egg,  and  the  edges  brought  so  well  together,  that 
the  joining  was  scarcely  observable.  Having  covered  the  eggs 
in  this  way  and  allowed  them  to  dry,  he  repeated  the  papering 
and  varnishing  four  times,  taking  care  to  bring  the  middle  of  each 
section  opposite  the  joining  in  the  previous  coating.  They  were 
now  covered  with  four  thicknesses  of  paper,  besides  numerous 
coatings  of  albumen,  first  on  the  shell,  and  subsequently  between 
each  layer  of  paper,  the  whole  forming  a  covering  so  thick  and 
horny,  that  Mr.  Town  was  convinced  that  it  was  entirely  im- 
permeable. 

The  eggs  thus  prepared  were  hatched  in  the  usual  manner; 
and  to  render  the  experiment  doubly  sure,  they  were  repeated 
with  success,  although  he  employed  several  coatings  of  oil  paint 
purposely  prepared  with  the  most  noxious  materials,  as  a  test  of 
the  air-proof  nature  of  the  protection  used  in  the  first  instance. 


CHANGES    IN    THE    EGG.  95 

the  chick  is  within  the  amnion.  Motion 
commences  on  the  sixth  day  ;  ossification, 
or  the  commencement  of  bones,  on  the 
ninth  ;  and  at  the  same  time  the  marks  of 
the  elegant  yellow  vessels  on  the  yolk-bag 
begin  to  appear. 

On  the  fourteenth  day  the"  feathers  begin 
to  be  seen,  and  if  the  chick  is  taken  out  of 
the  egg  it  will  now  open  its  mouth,  as  if 
for  air. 

On  the  nineteenth  day  it  is  able  to  utter 
sounds,  and  on  the  twenty-first  or  second 
breaks  the  egg.  This  latter  process  is  ef- 
fected in  a  systematic  manner.  The  chick 
lies  in  the  shell,  with  its  feet  and  tail  to- 
wards the  smaller  end  ;  the  head  is  bent 
down  under  the  wing,  with  the  bill  project- 
ing up  on  a  level  with  the  inner  surface  of 
the  shell.  When  the  chick  is  sufficiently 
developed,  it  forces  its  bill  through  it.  At 
each  successive  stroke  the  body  is  turned 
partly  round,  so  that  a  circle  of  fractures  is 
formed  ;  but  before  this  is  completed,  the 
shell  usually  gives  way.  The  inner  mem- 
brane is  sometimes  very  thick,  and  the 


96  ARTIFICIAL    HATCHING. 

chick   deficient  in  strength,  in  which   case 
assistance  may  become  necessary. 

Hens  will  sit  in  this  climate  twice,  and 
more  rarely  three  times  during  the  summer. 
Such  are  indifferent  layers,  and  the  propen- 
sity to  sit  is  so  strong,  that  they  will  often 
lay  two  or  three  eggs  after  they  have  begun 
to  sit.  During  incubation,  it  is  advised  to 
place  sand  and  food  near  the  hen,  although, 
if  your  poultry-yard  is  complete,  this  will  not 
be  necessary. 

Hatching  by  artificial  means  has  been 
practised  for  many  hundred  years.  It  is  a 
simple  process,  requiring  only  a  steady  heat 
of  96°  of  Fahrenheit,  and  was  doubtless  sug- 
gested by  seeing  eggs  accidentally  hatched 
under  a  dunghill.  There  are  records  that 
even  the  heat  of  the  human  body  has  been 
applied  to  that  purpose. 

In  Egypt  and  China  it  has  long  been  suc- 
cessfully practised  on  a  large  scale.  In  the 
former  country  it  was  for  a  long  time  con- 
fined to  the  priests,  who  kept  their  process 
a  secret.  On  the  revival  of  letters,  it  was 
introduced  into  Europe,  but  was  probably 


EGYPTIAN    METHOD.  97 

not  found  successful.  Portuguese  travellers 
had  also  brought  to  light  the  mode  employ- 
ed by  the  Chinese.  This  consisted  in  pla- 
cing the  eggs,  on  their  larger  end,  in  sand, 
over  a  stove  The  French  improved  upon 
this,  using  a  small  portable  oven,  and  lay- 
ing the  eggs  on  feathers.  The  heat  was 
supplied  by  four  lamps. 

The  Egyptian  method  is  now  well  known, 
and  a  few  words  concerning  it  may  not  be 
out  of  place.  The  edifice  is  built  of  un- 
burned  bricks.  It  has  a  passage  in  the  cen- 
tre, with  from  three  to  eight  rows  of  ovens 
on  each  side.  Each  oven  is  two  stories 
high,  the  upper  one  communicating  with 
those  on  each  side,  and  with  the  lower, 
and  the  lower  with  those  adjoining  in  the 
same  way.  There  is  an  apartment  beneath, 
where  the  live  fuel  (charcoal  made  from 
dung)  is  placed.  There  are  other  buildings 
around  it,  to  contain  fuel,  eggs,  chickens,  and 
sleeping-places  for  the  attendants.  These 
are  all  built  and  kept  in  repair  at  the  public 
expense.  About  the  middle  of  January  pub- 
lic notice  is  given  to  bring  in  the  eggs.  As 


98  EGYPTIAN    METHOD. 

soon  as  enough  are  brought  in  to  fill  half  the 
ovens  the  process  is  begun.  The  eggs  are 
arranged  three  deep,  on  a  bed  of  straw  and 
light  dust.  The  fuel  is  then  lighted,  and 
kept  up  for  ten  days.  Having  no  thermom- 
eters to  regulate  the  heat,  they  depend  on 
their  long  experience,  practised  tact,  and  the 
frequent  application  of  the  egg  against  the 
eyelids.  The  eggs  are  turned  and  examin- 
ed, and  the  addled  and  unfecundated  eggs 
removed.  At  the  end  of  ten  days  fresh  eggs 
are  placed  in  the  vacant  ovens  ;  the  old  fires 
are  put  out,  and  fresh  ones  are  lighted,  so 
that  they  do  not  receive  quite  the  same  heat, 
but  nearly  as  much,  through  the  lateral  holes 
in  the  ovens. 

When  hatched,  the  persons  engaged  in 
superintending  the  process  return  to  the 
owners  two  chicks  for  every  three  sound 
eggs  received ;  and  this  is  their  only  com- 
pensation. 

It  is  now  that  the  real  difficulty  commen- 
ces, and  one  which  will  always  present  in- 
surmountable obstacles,  except  in  countries 
situated  like  Upper  Egypt.  So  free  is  this 


FRENCH  METHOD.  99 

climate  from  rains,  that  coloured  drawings 
on  stone,  exposed  to  the  open  air,  have  re- 
mained unchanged  for  centuries. 

The  chickens  from  the  ovens  are  kept,  in 
Egypt,  on  the  flat  roofs  of  the  houses,  which 
are  surrounded  by  low  parapets.  They  are 
fed  with  pounded  millet  and  rice,  and  at 
night  are  placed  in  cages,  covered  with 
cloth  ;  at  the  end  of  a  month  they  are  turn- 
ed adrift,  to  take  care  of  themselves. 

In  France,  Reaumur,  who  first  brought 
the  thermometer  to  its  present  degree  of 
perfection,  conceiving  that  he  had,  in  that 
instrument,  the  means  of  regulating  the  tem- 
perature, made  many  experiments,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  raising  chickens  by  means  of 
dung  in  a  state  of  fermentation,  and  by  ap- 
propriate boxes  over  common  ovens.  Cham- 
pion and  Bonnemain  still  farther  improved 
and  simplified  the  process,  by  making  use 
of  tubes,  with  heated  water. 

Latterly,  a  machine  with  all  these  im- 
provements, and  under  the  name  of  Eccale- 
beion,  has  been  introduced  into  England, 
where  it  has  been  in  successful  operation. 


100 


ECCALEBEION. 


It  occupies  a  small  space,  and  turns  out     , 
hundred  chickens  a  day. 

To  those  who  may  not  have  access  i  * 
the  expensive  works  containing  a  complete 
description  of  the  apparatus  employed  for 
hatching  chickens  by  hot  water,  the  accom- 
panying figure  and  details  may  not  be  un- 
acceptable. 

Fig.  6. 

T 


The  above  figure  will  give  a  general  idea 
of  the  apparatus.  It  consists  of  a  square 
box  of  any  required  size.  A  small  furnace 
is  seen  at  a  furnished  with  a  boiler.  From 
this  arises  a  tube,  &,  which  traverses  back- 
ward and  forward  through  the  box,  and 
through  another  one  which  is  partly  shown 
at  e,.  where  the  chickens  are  kept  after  be- 
ing hatched,  and  returns  into  the  boiler,  a. 
The  eggs  rest  on  the  shelves,  c. 


^ECCALEBEION.  101 

Supposing  the  water  heated  in  the  boiler, 
it  rises  by  its  specific  levity  through  the 
tube  bj  and  more  progressively  through  all 
the  tubes  to  7i,  when  it  passes  down  to  the 
bottom  of  the  boiler.  This  circulating  move- 
ment, once  established,  continues  as  long  as 
the  boiler  is  heated,  because  the  tempera- 
ture is  never  equal  through  all  parts  of  the 
apparatus  ;  and  it  is  easy  to  conceive  that 
a  perfect  equality  of  temperature  can  never 
exist,  on  account  of  the  continual  loss  of 
heat  which  escapes  from  the  outsides  of  all 
the  tubes.  It  does  not,  however,  become 
greatly  diminished,  even  after  having  ex- 
pended a  large  portion  of  its  caloric  on  the 
outside  of  the  box,  in  maintaining  a  gentle 
heat  in  the  chicken-box,  e,  adjoining.  The 
bent  parts  of  the  tubes  outside  of  the  box 
are  covered  with  woollen  cloth.  By  means 
of  a  regulator,  a  regular  and  constant  tem- 
perature is  obtained. 

In  practice,  but  one  twentieth  part  of  the 
eggs  which  the  apparatus  is  capable  of  hold- 
ing is  put  in  at  first,  and  the  remainder  in 
similar  parts  everv  successive  day.  In  this 


102  ECCALEBEION.^ 

way,  the  eggs  first  placed  in  will,  on  the 
twenty-first  day,  be  for  the  most  part  hatch- 
ed, so  that  we  may  obtain  every  day  nearly 
the  same  number  of  chickens. 

During  the  first  days  of  hatching,  the 
small  quantity  of  water  contained  within  the 
substance  of  the  egg  evaporates  through 
the  pores  of  the  shell.  This  is  replaced  by 
a  small  quantity  of  air,  which  is  necessary 
to  support  the  respiration  of  the  chick  ;  but 
as  the  atmosphere  within  the  box  is  nearly 
dry,  so  that  the  chick  would  either  die,  or 
suffer  greatly  for  want  of  sufficient  moisture 
this  is  remedied  by  shallow  vessels,  z,  z,  i 
containing  water. 

When  the  chickens  are  hatched,  they  are 
placed  in  the  adjoining  box,  with  a  sheep- 
skin with  the  wool  on  suspended  over  them, 
and  fed  with  pounded  millet  or  rice. 

In  a  practical  point  of  view,  I  am  dispo- 
sed to  consider  the  whole  thing  more  curi- 
ous than  useful.  All  the  machines  hitherto 
invented  fail  in  producing  healthy  chickens. 
In  Egypt,  so  highly  favoured  by  its  almost 
perpetually  unclouded  sky,  we  have  seen 


INCUBATION.  103 

that  even  there  the  after-care  of  the  chicken 
requires  the  space  of  a  month.  In  France 
three  months  are  requisite,  and  I  should 
think  that  the  constantly  humid  climate  of 
England  would  demand  a  still  greater 
length  of  time.  In  some  of  our  Southern 
and  Western  States  it  might,  however,  be 
worthy  of  trial. 

When  the  chicks  are  about  to  be  hatch- 
ed, a  little  extra  attention  is  necessary. 
The  hen  should  be  gently  lifted  up,  and 
such  chickens  as  have  broken  through  their 
shell  should  be  removed  and  placed  in  a 
basket,  with  a  little  tow  or  cotton  in  the 
bottom  of  it,  and  set  near  the  fire,  or  in 
some  other  warm  place.  Some  hens,  es- 
pecially pullets,  are  so  impatient  that  at  the 
first  sound  of  the  chick  they  will  be  restless 
and  uneasy,  and  leave  the  nest  often  with  a 
single  chicken.  Sometimes  the  chick  ad- 
heres to  the  membrane  of  the  shell,  so  as  to 
require  some  assistance  to  separate  it ;  this, 
however,  must  be  done  with  great  care. 
As  the  eggs  are  of  various  degrees  of  fresh- 
ness when  placed  under  the  hen  (although 


104  INCUBATION. 

this  should  always  be  avoided),  it  can 
scarcely  be  expected  that  all  will  come  off 
at  the  same  time.  It  is  well,  therefore,  to 
wait  until,  the  next  day,  when  such  as  are 
not  decidedly  addled  may  be  placed  under 
another  hen  which  has  nearly  completed  her 
term  of  incubation.  We  then  take  the  hen 
from  the  nest,  and,  placing  her  in  a  suitable 
coop,  put  the  chickens  to  her.  The  treat- 
ment of  the  mother  with  her  brood  will 
form  the  subject  of  the  succeeding  chapter. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

First  Food  for  Chickens. — Various  Forms  and  Substitutes. — 
Forcing-frames. — Situation. — Clogs  to  prevent  Scratching. — 
Food. — Artificial  Food.  — Return  to  the  Poultry-yard. — Feed- 
ing-coop. 

CHICKENS  require  no  food  for  the  first 
twenty-four  hours,  or  until  they  have  been 
restored  to  their  mother.  They  should  then 
be  fed  with  coarsely-ground  rice,  or,  what 
is  still  better,  coarsely-ground  Indian  corn. 

The   first   consideration,    however,  is   a 


COOPS.  105 

suitable  coop  to  restrain  the  mother,  that 
she  may  not  lose  them  in  the  wet  grass,  or 
exhaust  their  strength  in  her  perpetual  search 
after  food.  At  the  same  lime,  by  this  con- 
finement of  the  mother  the  chickens  are  re- 
stricted in  their  rambles  within  certain  lim- 
its, which  allow  them  sufficient  exercise, 
and  we  are  also  enabled  to  give  them  this 
food  at  regular  and  stated  periods. 

Various  simple  contrivances  have  been 
employed  for  this  purpose,  such  as  an  old  tub 
turned  bottom  upward,  or  a  basket  or  barrel 
laid  on  its  side,  with  a  few  sticks  driven  into 
the  ground  in  front.  Some  use  sticks  or 
poles  8  or  10  feet  long,  driven  into  the 
ground  in  a  circle,  with  the  tops  tied  to- 
gether. Common  empty  boxes  of  any  form, 
with  laths  nailed  in  front,  are  also  employed. 

In  this  climate,  the  best  and  most  dura- 
ble are  those  which  are  made  by  nailing 
boards  two  feet  long  together  in  such  a  way 
as  to  form  a  triangle  about  Fig.  7. 

three  feet  deep,  boarding  up 
the  back,  and  nailing  laths 
in  front,  wide  enough  apart 
I 


106  COOPS. 

to  permit  the  chickens  to  run  in  and  out. 
Some  of  these  should  have  boarded  bottoms, 
to  be  used  according  to  the  season  ;  but  per- 
haps it  would  be  better  still  to  have  a  num- 
ber of  platforms  always  on  hand,  to  be  used 
as  occasion  may  require.  In  wet  seasons, 
or  in  early  spring,  these,  platforms  should  be 
always  put  under  the  coops,  and  should  be 
large  enough  to  project  four  or  five  inches 
in  front. 

It  is  a  good  plan  to  have  a  broad  and 
short  piece  of  board  on  which  to  place  the 
food  and  water.  In  the  ordinary  mode  of 
supplying  chickens  with  water  by  means  of 
small  troughs,  they  are  apt  to  get  into  the 
water,  and  become  chilled  and  die.  To  ob- 
viate this,  get  two  tin  pans,  or  earthen  sau- 
cers, such  as  hold  flower  pots,  one  somewhat 
smaller  than  the  other.  Place  them  within 
each  other,  and  fill  up  the  space  between 
with  water.  To  render  this  more  accessible 
to  the  very  young  chickens,  it  may  be  well 
to  sink  the  larger  pan  into  the  feeding-board, 
and  nearly  on  a  level  with  it.  This  board 
may  be  fitted  with  leather  hinges,  so  as  to 


COOPS.  107 

admit  of  its  being  raised  up  towards  evening. 
This  answers  the  double  purpose  of  protect- 
ing the  chicks  against  the  smaller  noxious 
vermin  during  the  night,  and  of  preventing 
them  from  wandering  about  in  the  dewy 
grass  in  the  morning.  I  have  seen  chickens 
kept  under  old  forcing  frames,  and  think  it 
an  excellent  plan.  It  has  suggested  the 
following  idea,  which  it  seems  would  be 
well  adapted  to  our  climate,  and  especially 
in  the  early  spring. 

Dig  a  trench  in  the  poultry-yard,  or  in 
the  garden,  in  some  place  not  required  for 
cultivation,  of  any  convenient  length,  about 
three  feet  wide,  and  about  the  same  depth. 
Drive  in  short  stakes  at  each  corner,  and  if 
the  trench  is  long,  intervening  stakes,  four 
or  five  feet  apart.  To  these  stakes  nail 
strips  of  boards,  of  such  a  height  that  the 
north  side  will  be  about  one  foot  above  the 
ground,  and  the  south  side  not  more  than  a 
few  inches,  or  level  with  it.  Separate  the 
trench  into  apartments  by  driving  in  closely 
sticks  or  slips  of  boards,  which  should  reach 
the  top.  Over  this  trench  throw  any  old 


108  COOPS. 

net  during  the  daytime,  and  towards  sun- 
set any  old  frames  or  sashes,  or  even  boards. 
To  those  who  would  desire  a  more  expen- 
sive and  neater  arrangement,  we  would  rec- 
ommend regularly  glazed  sashes  with  hin- 
ges attached,  and  in  place  of  the  net,  a  frame 
of  iron  or  brass  wire,  with  the  meshes  a 
couple  of  inches  a  part. 

The  proper  situation  of  these  coops  is  a 
matter  for  consideration :  they  should  be 
near  the  house,  on  account  of  the  convenience 
of  feeding  them,  and  the  less  danger  of  the 
chicks  being  swept  away  by  hawks  or  crows. 
The  coops  should  not  be  placed  near  each 
other,  as  the  chicks  are  apt  to  mix  together, 
and  a  hen  will  frequently  kill  a  strange 
chicken.  They  should  be  at  least  50  feet 
apart.  It  is  a  practice  with  some  farmers 
to  place  their  chicken-coops  in  the  garden. 
Here  they  not  only  obtain  a  great  part  of 
their  livelihood,  but  are  of  great  service 
in  destroying  multitudes  of  minute  insects 
and  their  eggs,  which  are  so  injurious  to 
vegetables.  It  has  been  objected  to  this 
practice,  that  the  chickens  ever  after  are 


CLOGS.  109 

reluctant  to  ktep  out  of  the  garden.  This 
may  be  prevented  by  clipping  the  wing.  If 
the  farmer  is  too  lazy  or  too  indifferent  to 
keep  up  his  poultry,  but  would  prefer  seeing 
them  in  his  swill-tub,  kitchen,  or  parlour, 
he  must,  at  least,  provide  them  with  clogs. 
Thse  consist  of  a  round  piece  of  stout  side- 
leather  about  as  large  as  a  half  dollar  piece, 
with  a  round  hole  cut  in  the  centre,  jn-t 
large  enough  '  to  pass  the  foot  through. 
Other  modes  have  been  practised,  but  they 
are  needlessly  cruel ;  such,  for  instance,  as 
chopping  off  the  toe  nails,  or  tying  the  two 
outer  toes  over  the  middle  one.  The  tight 
ligature  produces  not  only  great  pain,  but 
even  mortification  and  death. 

The  best  food  for  young  chicks  is  dry 
broken  Indian  corn  or  rice,  given  three  times 
a  day.  Corn-meal  mixed  with  water  into 
a  paste  is  often  given,  but  we  think  it  has 
a  tendency  to  produce  gapes,  or,  at  least,  to 
favour  their  approach. 

Where  the  chicks  have  no  access  to  grass, 
it  should  be  furnished  them  chopped  fine, 
as  well  as  small  Quantities  of  fresh  meat. 


110  FOOD    FOR    CHICKENS. 

Chopped  chives  are  also  highly  recommend- 
ed. They  should  also  be  furnished  with 
earth  worms,  chopped  into  fine  pieces. 
The  decided  taste  which  chickens  and  fowls 
have  for  insects,  worms,  and  grubs,  has  sug- 
gested in  France  a  curious  mode  of  multi- 
plying them  for  use.  A  sort  of  paste  is 
made  with  yeast,  oats,  and  bran,  mixed  up 
with  horsedung.  This  is  placed  in  a  proper 
vessel,  and  if  the  weather  be  warm,  it  will,  at 
the  end  of  three  days,  be  filled  with  worms. 
Another  method  is  practised  on  a  large  scale, 
In  a  square  pit  of  suitable  size,  and  lined 
either  with  wood  or  stone,  are  placed  alter- 
nate layers  of  chopped  straw,  horse-dung, 
earth  mixed  with  blood,  pumice  of  apples,  or 
grapes,  intestines  of  animals,  &c.,  until  it 
is  full.  The  worms  generated  are  kept  foi 
cold  weather. 

At  the  end  of  a  month  or  six  weeks,  the 
hen  may  be  liberated.  If  the  portable  coop 
be  employed,  it  may  be  propped  up  with  a 
stick,  and  the  hen  allowed  to  return  to  it  ol 
her  own  accord,  when  it  may  be  let  down, 
and  kept  so  until  the  dew  of  the  morning  is 


FEEDING    COOP.  1  ]  1 

dried  off.  At  the  end  of  a  couple  of  weeks 
more,  they  may  be  turned  into  the  poultry- 
yard. 

Here  they  will  at  first  hardly  receive  fair 
play  in  the  distribution  of  food.  It  will 
therefore  be  necessary  to  prepare  for  them  a 
feeding-coop,  in  order  that  they  may  enjoy 
food  without  being  disturbed  by  the  older 
fowls.  The  feeding-coop  consists  of  a  box 
about  four  feet  square,  and  two  feet  high. 
One  side  of  this  is  open,  with  laths  or  slats  of 
wood  just  wide  enough  to  admit  the  chick- 
ens, and  yet  so  narrow  as  to  exclude  the 
grown  fowls.  The  feed  is  thrown  in  through 
a  small  trap-door  on  the  top. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Tarious  Substances  used  in  fattening  Chickens. — Confinement. 
— Fattening-coop. — No  Gravel. — Sugar  and  Molasses. — Indian 
Meal.— Animal  Food.— Fish.— Objections  to  its  Use. 

VARIOUS  modes  of  fattening  chickens  have 
been  practised  and  recommended.  In  some 
parts  of  England,  the  food,  consisting  of 


112  FATTENING  FOWLS. 

ground  oats  made  into  gruel,  and  mixed  up 
with  lard,  pot-liquor,  and  milk,  is  literally 
crammed  down  their  throats.  This  filthy 
and  disgusting  practice  I  hope  will  never  be 
introduced  among  us. 

There  are  one  or  two  considerations  which 
should  always  be  attended  to  in  the  process 
of  fattening.  It  must  be  done  in  the  short- 
est possible  time,  in  order  to  save  time,  la- 
bour, and  expense.  To  effect  this,  the 
chickens  should  be  kept  quiet,  and  not  al- 
lowed to  annoy  each  other.  This  is  done 
by  having  a  long  coop,  divided  by  partitions 
into  spaces  just  large  enough  each  to  hold  a 
single  chicken  ;  the  bottom  should  be  of 
narrow  laths  or  rounded  sticks,  in  order  to 
allow  the  droppings  to  escape,  and  the  coop 
moved  to  a  fresh  spot  every  day  or  two. 
This  coop  should  have  a  large  and  deep 
trough  before  it  for  the  food,  and  a  small 
partition  in  it  for  water.  They  should  be 
fed  regularly  three  times  a  day.  These 
coops  should  be  under  cover,  and,  if  possi^ 
ble,  in  some  close  chamber.  With  steamed 
potatoes  alone,  given  in  this  way  three  or 


FATTENING    CHICKENS.  113 

four  times  a  day,  chickens  have  been  fatten- 
ed in  eight  to  ten  days.  It  has  been,  in- 
deed, asserted  that  three  pounds  of  meal 
alone  will  fatten  a  chick  from  the  shell. 

Mr.  Wingate,  of  Maine,  who  has  been 
very  successful  in  his  practice,  fattens  his 
fowls  thus  :  He  shuts  them  up  where  they 
can  get  no  gravel.  He  keeps  corn  by  them 
all  the  time ;  gives  them  meal,  mixed  up 
with  water  in  the  form  of  dough,  and  in- 
stead of  water,  gives  them  skimmed  milk. 
They  become  fat  in  ten  days.  If  they  are 
kept  longer  than  ten  days  they  must  have 
gravel,  or  they  will  fall  away. 

The  attachment  which  fowls  have  for  the 
swill-tub  shows  clearly  what  articles  will  be 
acceptable.  Hence  vegetables  of  any  kind, 
and  grease  of  any  sort,  are  greedily  devour- 
ed, and  contribute  greatly  to  fatten  them. 
So  of  molasses,  sugar,  and  sunflower  seed. 
I  do  not  believe  that  any  one  article  is  of  it- 
self best  adapted  to  fatten,  but  should  pre- 
fer to  vary  the  articles  daily.  It  is  most  eco- 
nomical tc  boil  everything  given  to  fatten, 
or  even  to  feed  them,  and  for  the  former 


]  14  FATTENING    CHICKENS. 

sweet  milk  is  preferable  (except  on  the  score 
of  economy)  to  sour. 

I  have  been  informed  that  some  persons 
have  succeeded  in  fattening  fowls  very  ex- 
peditiously  by  giving  nothing  but  hasty- 
pudding  for  a  week  or  ten  days.  This  is 
made,  in  our  part  of  the  country,  by  boiling 
Indian  corn-meal  over  night,  and  when  cold 
next  morning,  cut  it  into  thin  slices,  and  fry 
them  in  lard  (any  sort  of  refuse  grease  will, 
however,  answer  for  this  purpose).  When 
given  to  the  fowls,  they  are  thickly  powder- 
ed with  any  cheap  brown  sugar,  or  covered 
with  molasses. 

Charcoal  is  highly  recommended,  not  that 
it  fattens  of  itself,  but  it  is  thought  to  pro 
mote  digestion. 

Animal  food  is  highly  necessary,  and, 
when  given  in  small  quantities,  aids  very 
much  the  process  of  fattening.  If  too  much 
is  given,  it  communicates  a  rank  and  disa- 
greeable flavour.  On  the  seashore,  where 
farmers,  for  economy's  sake,  suffer  their 
fowls  to  eat  crabs  and  other  shell-fish,  their 
flesh  is  so  highly  tainted  with  them  as  to  be 


CAPONIZATION.  115 

obvious  not  only  to  the  taste,  but  to  the  smell. 
It  may,  however,  be  given  to  young  chick- 
ens with  advantage  until  it  is  time  to  place 
them  in  the  fattening-coops,  when  the  fla- 
vour will  disappear  with  a  change  of  food. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Caponization. — Its  Origin. — The  Instruments. — Operating-table. 
— Precautions. — The  Operation. — Change  in  its  Habits. — In- 
creased Size  and  Value. — Operation  on  the  Female. 

THE  castration  of  fowls,  as  one  of  the 
means  of  producing  a  large  and  well-fla- 
voured animal,  has  been  practised  by  the 
Chinese  from  the  remotest  antiquity.  It 
does  not,  however,  seem  to  have  been  in- 
troduced into  Europe  until  a  comparatively 
recent  period.  Columella,  who  wrote  pro- 
fessedly on  rural  affairs  about  1800  years 
ago,  gravely  asserts  that  capons  are  made 
by  cutting  off  the  spurs,  and  searing  them 
to  the  quick.  This  is  scarcely  inferior  to 
?he  direction  for  performing  the  operation 


116  POULARDS. 

given  in  an  agricultural  magazine  published 
in  this  country  not  more  than  five  years 
ago.  It  runs  thus  :  "  Make  an  incision 
with  a  sharp  knife  under  the  lowest  rib  , 
with  your  fingers  lay  hold  of  the  parts  to 
be  extirpated,  and  cut  them  away  with 
sharp  scissors  ;  put  a  stitch  or  two  in  the 
wound  !" 

On  the  Continent  this  operation  is  per- 
formed with  more  success  than  in  England. 
In  France,  hen  capons,  or,  as  they  are  call- 
ed, poulards,  are  also  frequently  made.  I 
am  not  familiar  with  this  operation,  but  it  is 
probably  more  simple  than  the  correspond- 
ing operation  upon  the  male.  The  French 
hen-housewife  is  said  to  introduce  the  finger 
into  the  vent,  and  to  obliterate  the  ovaries 
by  squeezing  them  against  the  back  bone. 

We  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Bela  Badger,  of 
Philadelphia,  for  its  successful  introduction 
into  this  country  ;  and  this  method  is  so 
clearly  and  minutely  described  in  the  Cul- 
tivator for  1842,  that  we  shall  make  no 
apology  for  transcribing  it,  in  all  its  details. 

The  instruments  are  six  in  number,  and 
made  of  silver,  steel,  or  brass. 


INSTRUMENTS.  117 

1.  A  knife.   Its  shape  nnd  cutting  edge  are 
shown  thus  -^~        i  \  but  a  common  scalpel 
or  surgeon's  knife  will  answer,  or  an  ex- 
ceedingly   sharp    and    fine-tempered    pen- 
knife. 

2.  A  tenaculum,  six  inches  long,  (^      =39 
gradually  tapering,  the   reflected  edge,  as 
well  as  the  tip,  very  sharp. 

3.  A  pair  of  forceps,   round,  six  inches 
long,  ::        "*Q?  tne  fingers  four  inches,  the 
points  square,  and  perfectly  tight. 

4.  Tube,  three   and  a  half  inches  long, 
smooth  inside,  (J_         j   so  as  not  to  cut  the 
hair  as  it  is  moved  backward  and  forward 
through  it.     Two  sides  of  the  upper  end  are 
flattened,  to   enable  it   to   be   conveniently 
grasped    by    the    thumb    and   fore    finger. 
The  lower  end  is  indented,  to  prevent  the 
testicle  from  turning,  and  also  in  order  not 
to  compress  at  once  too  closely  the  sper- 
matic cord.     This  figure  ^=^         >=>  shows 
the  tube,  with  the  horse  hair  looped  and  run 
through  it. 

5.  The  elevator  is  6  inches  long,  ^9 , 
the  bowl  truncated  and  elongated,  oval,  per- 


118  INSTRUMENTS. 

fectly  smooth,  the  edge  rounded.  It  is  used 
to  press  out  to  view  the  lower  testicle,  to 
assist  in  passing  the  hair  over  the  cord,  to 
scoop  out  the  blood,  and  to  lift  the  lower 
testicle  out  after  being  discovered. 

6.  The  hooks  are  an  inch  long,  half  an 
inch  wide,  the  hooks  or  lips  a  quarter  of  an 
inch.  They  are  fastened  pendulous  to  a 
split  reed,  or  bamboo,  six  inches  long.  One 
hook  only  is,  however,  fastened  to  both  split 
ends  of  the  reed.  A  ring  runs  over  the  reed, 
with  a  view  of  increasing  the  elasticity  or 
expanding  power,  drawing  farther  apart  the 
lips  of  the  incision.  The  two  figures  give 
an  idea  of  these,  one  straight,  O=r=n=O ,  the 
other  bent,  (j^zm^^.  Use,  to  draw  apart 
the  ribs  after  the  intercostal  muscle  is  sep- 
arated, so  as  to  enable  you  to  get  a  fair  view 
of  the  testicles. 

The  next  thing  is  to  prepare  the  opera- 
ting-table, which  may  be  of  any  convenient 
height,  so  as  not  to  fatigue  the  operator. 
About  four  feet  is  the  usual  height,  but  we 
prefer  it  rather  less.  It  should  be  on  the 
top  two  feet  long,  and  fourteen  inches 


OPERATING-TABLE.  119 

broad.  Make  two  holes  in  a  direct  line  di- 
agonally across  the  table,  beginning 
six  inches  from  the  left  hand  corner, 
and  about  four  or  five  inches  from 
the  margin.  These  holes  should  be  six 
inches  in  the  clear.  Pass  through  these 
holes  a  leather  strap  three  quarters  of  an 
inch  wide,  and  twenty  inches  long,  the  two 
ends  being  fastened  together.  Below  the 
table  and  through  the  strap  run  the  lever ', 
two  feet  long  by  one  and  a  half  wide,  one 
end  fastened  by  a  movable  joint  to  the  op- 
posite legs  of  the  table.  On  this  weights 
are  fixed,  in  order  to  hold  the  subject  firmly 
by  the  wings.  An  old  axe  makes  a  good 
weight,  and  may  be  fastened  backward  or 
forward  on  the  lever,  adjusting  the  weight 
to  the  size  or  strength  of  the  fowl.  This 
strap  is  passed  over  the  wings,  close  to  the 
body.  Next,  we  nail  on  the  right-hand  end 
of  the  table,  about  four  inches  from  the  cor- 
ner, an  inch  buckle  attached  to  a  short 
piece  of  leather,  so  as  to  elevate  the  buckle 
about  half  an  inch  above  the  surface  of  the 
table.  Take  a  piece  of  leather  suitable  to 


120  THE    OPERATION. 

pass  through  the  buckle,  and  punctured  with 
numerous  holes.  To  one  end  attach  a  small 
cord  long  enough  to  form  a  noose  to  slip  over 
the  legs,  and  then  the  strap  is  drawn  through 
the  buckle.  This  forms  the  extensor.  With 
the  strap  across  the  wings,  the  lever  in  force, 
the  noose  around  the  legs  and  extended,  the 
subject  is  now  ready  for  the  operation. 

There  is  one  general  rule  to  be  adopted 
in  all  cases,  and  without  which  it  will  be 
useless  to  operate.  In  every  case  the  fowl 
must  be  shut  up  for  thirty-six  or  forty-eight 
hours,  without  food  or  drink.  The  objects 
gained  are  twofold  :  the  intestines  are  not 
so  full,  and,  of  course,  will  not  interfere 
with  the  operation ;  secondly,  the  danger  is 
not  so  great  from  the  accompanying  inflam- 
mation. 

The  Operation.  —  The  parts  to  be  cut 
through  are  the  intercostal  muscle,  the  in- 
ternal costal  muscle,  and  the  peritoneum. 
Place  the  fowl  on  its  left  side  on  the  table, 
with  its  back  to  the  operator,  the  strap 
around  the  wings,  and  the  noose  around  the 
legs.  Pluck  away  the  few  feathers  over  the 


THE    OPERATION.  121 

space  between  the  first  and  second  ribs ; 
with  the  left-hand  thumb  and  finger  draw 
the  skin  tense,  ascertaining  positively  the 
space  between  the  ribs.  Then,  with  the 
knife  in  the  right  hand,  make  a  single  cut 
through  the  skin  only,  about  an  inch  long, 
measuring  from  the  point  of  the  first  rib 
backward.  This  exposes  the  two  ribs  and 
the  margin  of  a  large  muscle  running  down 
the  thigh.  This  muscle  is  in  no  danger  of 
being  injured  if  the  proper  point  is  ascer- 
tained where  to  make  the  incision ;  but  if 
otherwise,  an  injury  to  it  will  cause  lame- 
ness. Divide  the  muscle  between  the  ribs 
by  introducing  the  knife  at  the  point  of  the 
first  rib,  and  cutting  backward  about  an 
inch.  In  this  way  the  pleura  is  avoided, 
and,  of  course,  an  escape  of  air. 

Introduce  the  hooks,  which  will,  by  the 
power  of  the  reed,  draw  apart  the  ribs,  and 
expose  a  bundle  of  muscular  fibres,  called 
the  internal  costal  muscle.  Should  the  in- 
cision be  too  small,  it  may  be  enlarged  by 
passing  the  knife  round  the  point  of  the  sec- 
ond rib  ;  this  v:n  divide  the  ligamentous 
K 


122  THE    OPERATION. 

connexion  between  the  two  ribs.  Divide 
the  belly  of  the  internal  costal  muscle  length- 
wise. This  done,  we  come- to  a  thin,  deli- 
cate, semi-transparent  membrane,  which  is 
the  peritoneum;  this  must  also  be  divided, 
taking  care  to  cut  as  far  from  the  pleura  as 
possible.  A  branch  of  the  celiac  artery  trav- 
erses this  membrane,  and  may  be  injured 
by  carelessness.  On  cutting  through  this 
membrane,  the  upper  testicle  is  brought  to 
view.  This  lies  on  the  margin  of  the  later- 
al spinous  processes,  surrounded  by  nerves 
and  bloodvessels.  It  is  a  small  yellow  body, 
its  colour  somewhat  darkened  by  the  mem- 
brane covering  it. 

Introduce  the  elevator,  and,  pushing 
forward  and  downward  the  intestine,  the 
lower  testicle  is  seen,  somewhat  diagonally 
to  the  other,  lying  centrally  between  two  large 
bloodvessels.  On  raising  it  with  the  elevator, 
it  comes  into  contact  with  the  membrane ;  the 
lower  bloodvessel  is  then  obscure.  This 
vessel  is  the  mesenteric  vein  that  lies  be- 
tween the  two  testicles.  Contiguous  to  the 
aorta  is  the  descending  vena  cava.  Remove 


THE    OPERATION.  123 

he  lower  testicle  first  in  all  cases,  by  rup- 
turing or  lacerating  the  peritoneum,  or  that 
part  of  the  membrane  between  the  two  large 
bloodvessels.  This  is  done  with  the  tenac- 
ulum.  The  operator  cannot  be  deceived  on 
this  point ;  as  soon  as  the  membrane  is  di- 
vided, the  testicle  presents  a  shining  or 
bright  yellow  appearance.  When  this  is 
done,  introduce  the  tube  and  hair,*  carrying 
the  hair  into  the  rupture ;  then  pass  the  ele- 
vator under  the  testicle,  in  the  loop  of  the 
hair:  With  the  tube  close  against  the  body 
of  the  testicle,  draw  the  hair  tense,  when,  if 
the  elevator  and  tube  be  properly  adjusted, 
the  hair  catches  the  cord  over  the  testis. 
Leaving  the  elevator  remaining  under  the 
testicle,  holding  the  tube  with  the  left  hand 
and  fore  finger,  bearing  it  slightly  against  the 
spermatic  cord,  with  the  right  thumb  and 
fore  finger  hold  of  the  knot  formed  in  the 
hair,  the  second  and  third  fingers  passed 
through  it,  give  it  a  sawing,  or  rotary  mo- 
tion, which  will  soon  divide  the  cord.  Take 
it  out  with  the  elevator  or  forceps. 

*  The  Chinese  employ  as  a  tube  a  small  quill. 


124  THE    OPERATION. 

The  upper  one  is  removed  nearly  m  the 
same  way.  To  rupture  the  peritoneum,  use 
the  forceps  instead  of  the  lenaculum,  and 
cut  it  with  the  knife,  near  the  centre  of  the 
testicle.  There  is  generally  a  slight  con- 
nexion of  the  upper  part  with  the  diaphragm  ; 
it  may  be  loosened  with  the  knife.  The 
edges  of  the  outer  wound  are  to  be  brought 
together  with  a  single  stitch. 

It  is  most  difficult  to  remove  the  lower, 
but  the  real  danger  is  with  the  upper,  as  the 
aorta,  or  chief  bloodvessel  of  the  body,  lies 
contiguous  to  it.  The  spermatic  artery,  or 
vessel  leading  from  this  main  trunk  to  the 
upper  testicle,  is  very  short. 

As  soon  as  the  operation  is  over,  let  the 
subject  run.  If  he  lives  ten  minutes  after,  or 
even  commences  feeding,  he  is  out  of  dan- 
ger. The  female  is  operated  on  in  the  same 
manner,  but  on  the  opposite  side. 

In  the  description  of  the  operation  given 
above,  the  writer  says  that  it  is  of  no  conse- 
quence when  the  operation  is  performed, 
but  he  prefers  the  summer  season,  and  upon 
fowls  under  a  year  old.  In  France  it  is  ^er- 


INCREASE    IN    SIZE.  125 

formed  towards  autumn,  and  upon  the  chick- 
ens of  that  year,  as  soon  as  they  begin  to 
crow.  It  is  well  known  that  the  testicles 
are  largest  in  summer,  and  more  injected 
with  bloodvessels ;  this  seems  to  indicate 
that  the  winter  would  be  the  best  season, 
taking  care  to  guard  the  fowls  from  the  cold 
weather  for  a  few  weeks  after  the  operation. 
In  France  it  is  always  thought  necessary  to 
cut  off  the  comb  of  the  cock  after  the  oper- 
ation. 

The  capon,  after  the  operation,  exhibits 
changes  similar  to  those  observed  among 
'  others  of  the  brute  creation.  He  becomes 
quiet  and  gentle,  an  enormous  feeder,  and 
accumulates  fat  rapidly.  He  has  been  taught 
to  take  care  of  chickens,  and  even  to  sit 
upon  eggs,  but  these  appear  to  be  idle  and 
useless  experiments.  They  bring  a  large 
price,  and  are  usually  double  the  ordinary 
size.  Mr.  Keeler,  whose  account  has  been 
followed  above,  states  that  an  acquaintance 
of  his  sold  in  one  season  twelve  pairs,  at  the 
rate  of  five  dollars  per  pair.  They  weighed 
from  nine  to  ten  and  a  half  pounds  each. 


126  DISEASES    OP   THE    YOUNG. 

In  performing  the  operation,  care  must  bt 
taken  to  obliterate  every  portion  of  the  tes 
tide,  or  it  will  be  a  failure.  Capons  requirt 
to  be  kept  for  eighteen  months  or  two  years 
before  they  attain  their  full  size,  but  only 
require  to  be  kept  up  for  fattening  about  a 
couple  of  weeks  before  being  killed. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Diseases  of  Fowls.— Gapes.— Chip.— Purging.— Costiveness.— 
Distention  of  the  Crop. — Inflammation  of  the  Oil-bag. — Roup. 
— Lice. — Amputation  of  the  Wing. 

THE  diseases  of  the  common  fowl  are,  in 
this  climate,  few  in  number,  and  are- usually 
controlled  by  adequate  treatment.  They 
may  be  divided  into  those  which  occur  to 
the  chicken,  and  those  only  known  in  the 
adult  fowl. 

1.  Diseases  of  the  Young. — The  most  de- 
structive is  what  is  called  the  gapes.  This 
is  known  by  the  following  symptoms.  A 
few  days  after  the  chick  is  hatched,  instead 


GAPES.  127 

of  running  about  in  a  lively  manner,  it 
droops  and  becomes  stupid  and  stationary. 
It  frequently  raises  its  head  and  gasps  as 
if  for  want  of  breath.  From  this  symptom 
the  disease  is  called  the  gapes.  This  is  ac- 
companied by  frequent  and  violent  sneez* 
ing.  If  the  disease  is  allowed  to  run  on, 
this  state  continues  for  a  week  or  ten  days, 
when  the  chick  dies,  quite  emaciated. 
There  is  usually  much  fever,  and  the  tip  of 
the  tongue  becomes  white  and  horny.  The 
cause  of  this  disease  is  the  presence  of  small 
red  worms,  called  Fasciola  trachea*  in  the 
windpipe. 

Cure. — The  most  common  remedy,  and, 
as  I  think,  the  most  absurd,  is  the  introduc- 
tion of  a  whole  pepper-corn  down  the  throat. 


*  This  animal  is  known  under  the  name  of  Fasciola  trachea, 
and  is  figured  and  described  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Wer- 
nerian  Society  of  Scotland,  vol.  i.,  p.  194,  pi.  7,  fig.  4,  by  Col- 
onel Montagu,  with  the  following  characters  : 

Poultry  Fluke.  With  a  round  cylindrical  body,  tapering  at 
the  posterior  end ;  a  large  arm  or  stalk  extends  from  the  side, 
and  terminates  in  an  aperture  used  as  a  sucker,  by  which  it  ad- 
heres to  the  windpipe .  Colour,  red ;  length,  about  an  inch ,  di- 
ameter, not  half  a  line.  Peculiar  to  the  windpipe  of  young 
poultry. 


128  CURE    FOR    THE    GAPES. 

This  is  varied  by  mixing  ground  pepper 
with  butter,  and  forcing  it  down  the  throat. 
This  is  generally  supposed  to  burn  out  the 
disease ;  it  may  do  that,  but,  as  far  as  my 
experience  goes,  it  burns  out  the  chicken 
with  it.  Another  remedy,  which  may  act 
as  a  preventive,  comes  recommended  on 
more  reasonable  grounds.  It  consists  in 
mixing  up  a  small  quantity  of  powdered  as- 
afoetida  with  Indian  meal.  As  this  is  an 
unpleasant  material  to  handle,  the  better 
way  is  to  put  a  small  quantity  in  a  bag,  and 
put  it  into  the  trough  of  water.  I  have  been 
assured  by  those  who  have  tried  it  that  their 
chickens  never  have  the  gapes.  Soap  mixed 
with  the  food,  or  Indian  meal  mixed  up  with 
soap-suds,  has  also  been  highly  recommend- 
ed. The  only  sure  and  certain  remedy  is  to 
resort  to  a  simple  operation.  Take  a  small 
feather  and  strip  off  the  web,  except  about 
an  inch  and  a  half  at  the  tip  ;  wet  the  end 
and  turn  it  back.  Let  a  person  hold  the 
chicken  on  its  back,  extending  the  legs. 
The  operator  takes  hold  of  the  head  of  the 
chicken  with  his  left  hand,  placing  the  thumb 


CAUSE    OF    GAPES.  129 

and  fore  finger  on  each  side  of  the  bill,  so 
as  to  hold  the  mouth  open.  Draw  the  neck 
out  gently,  but  firmly.  Introduce  the  feath- 
er over  the  tongue,  and  watch  when  the 
chicken  breathes,  which  opens  the  wind- 
pipe ;  then  enter  it  quick,  and  do  not  be  afraid 
after  the  point  is  entered.  Push  down  gen- 
tly two  or  three  inches,  and  then  withdraw 
the  feather,  turning  it  with  a  cork-screw  mo- 
tion ;  the  worms  will  follow,  and  others  will 
be  loosened  by  sneezing.  This  may  be  re- 
peated once  more,  but  not  oftener ;  the 
chicken  may  then  be  released,  and  in  nine 
cases  out  of  ten  is  cured  immediately.  If 
they  should  gape  the  next  day,  repeat  the 
operation. 

The  cause  of  the  appearance  of  these  par- 
asitic worms  is  not  clearly  known.  They 
are  more  common  in  some  districts  than  in 
others,  and  in  certain  seasons  ;  very  wet 
and  variable  seasons  are  supposed  to  be  fa- 
vourable to  their  production.  Upon  this 
principle,  many  good  hen-housewives  give 
the  chickens  nothing  but  dry  food  ;  and  I 
think  I  have  observed  less'  of  this  disease 
L 


130      CHIPS,   PURGING,    AND    CONSTIPATION 

when  the  food  was  given  in  this  state,  and 
water  only  allowed  to  the  hen  at  brief  inter- 
vals during  the  day. 

About  three  weeks  or  a  month  from  the 
shell,  chickens  are  affected  with  another 
disease  known  under  the  name  of  chip.  The 
symptoms  are  as  follows  :  the  chicken  sits 
in  a  crouching  position,  with  its  feathers 
drooping  about  it,  appears  reluctant  or  una- 
ble to  move,  and  keeps  up  a  melancholy 
chipping,  as  if  in  pain.  I  presume  that  this 
is  a  catarrh,  accompanied  by  much  fever. 
The  only  treatment  I  have  found  efficacious 
was  to  put  them  into  some  warm  place,  and 
allow  them  no  food  for  twenty-four  hours. 
If  the  disease  was  not  too  far  advanced,  they 
would,  at  the  end  of  this  time,  become  lively, 
and  eat  readily.  Chickens  with  this  disease 
should  be  shut  up  for  some  days,  and  only 
let  out  in  warm,  dry  weather. 

The  other  diseases  of  chickens  are  very 
obscure,  and  some  of  them  I  only  know  by 
name.  Purging  is  said  to  be  remedied  by 
dry  food,  with  chopped  meat.  Constipation 
is  relieved  by  giving  them  plenty  of  fat  or 
grease. 


DISEASES    OF    THE    ADULT.  13) 

2.  Diseases  of  the  Adult. — These  are,  in 
the  present  state  of  our  knowledge,  almost 
all  incurable,  and  the  sooner  they  are  put 
out  of  the  way  the  better.     When  the  cause 
is  obvious,  something  may  rationally  be  at- 
tempted.    A  broken  leg,  for  instance,  may 
be  put  in  splints  and  tied  up,  the  fowl  being 
kept   apart  from    others.      Sometimes   the 
fowl  may  be  seen  drooping,  and,  upon  ex- 
amination, the  crop  may  be  found  over- dis- 
tended with  grain  or  gravel :   the  obvious 
remedy  in  this  case  is  to  make  a  cut  two 
inches  long  into  the  crop,  take  out  its  con- 
tents, and  sew  it  up  again  :  this  may  be  done 
with    perfect    safety.       Sometimes   I    have 
known  fowls  to  have  their  crops  enormously 
distended  with  the  small,  yellowish-brown 
beetle   called  the  rose-bug.      I  proceeded 
to  operate  in  the  same  manner  upon  these, 
but  they  all  died.     Upon  examining  them, 
the  cause  of  their  death  was  obvious :  the 
bugs  had  fastened  their  claws  into  the  very 
substance  of  the  crop  and  gullet,  and  the 
fowls  had  died  from  inflammation.     I  must 
confess  I  know  of  no  remedy  for  such  a 


132 


ROUP. 


complaint.  The  combs  and  wattles  of  fowls 
are  occasionally  frozen.  The  best  prevent- 
ive is  a  warm  fowl-house:  it  does  not  ap- 
pear to  influence  the  general  health. 

Occasionally  we  find  a  hen  with  its 
feathers  rumpled  and  hanging  loosely  about 
her,  at  a  season  when  she  could  not  be  sup- 
posed to  be  moulting.  Upon  examination, 
the  gland  on  the  rump  is  frequently  found 
to  be  swollen.  This  must  be  treated  like 
an  ordinary  boil.  If  there  appears  to  be 
fluctuating  matter  in  it,  open  it  with  a  knife, 
and  put  on  it  a  diachylon  or  gum  plaster. 
There  is  a  disease  described  in  the  English 
poultry  books  under  the  name  of  Roup.  The 
fowl  appears  stupified,  its  eyes  are  inflamed, 
and  there  is  a  discharge  from  its  nostrils. 
The  disease  is  supposed  to  resemble  the 
glanders  in  horses,  and  is  said  to  be  highly 
infectious.  Instead  of  following  the  advice 
of  the  said  poultry  books,  which  is  to  place 
it  in  an  infirmary  or  hospital  by  itself,  and 
then  to  try  all  sorts  of  rational  and  irration- 
al experiments  upon  it,  we  should  advise 
killing  it  outright,  and  burying  the  body. 


LICE.  133 

This  is  the  ordinary  dictate  of  humanity. 
As  far  as  I.  can  learn,  this  disease  rarely,  if 
ever,  appears  in  our  climate. 

Lice  are  one  of  the  most  common  annoy- 
ances of  poultry,  although  they  may  be  said 
to  be  common  to  them  at  all  times.  Three 
species  are  described  on  the  common  fowl. 
Their  abundance  is  generally  caused  by 
want  of  cleanliness  or  spare  feed.  Fowls 
rid  themselves  of  lice  by  dusting  themselves 
in  sand  or  ashes,  and  this  suggests  the  ap- 
propriate remedy.  Frequent  whitewashing 
the  hen-house  will  prevent  their  great  in- 
crease. Some  odd  remedies  have  been  sug- 
gested, such  as  rubbing  lard  under  the 
wings  and  on  the  rump,  rubbing  the  fowl 
with  water  in  which  potato-skins  have  been 
boiled,  and  even  pulling  out  a  few  feathers 
from  the  ends  of  the  wings.  I  have  known 
a  whole  poultry-yard  to  be  rid  of  lice  in  a 
short  time  by  rubbing  on  the  sides  of  every 
fowl  a  little  lard  into  which  a  small  quantity 
of  turpentine  had  been  incorporated.  A 
highly-recommended  remedy  is  to  mix  up 
sulphur  with  Indian  rneal  and  water,  in  the 


134  AMPUTATION. 

proportion  of  half  a  pound  of  the  sulphur  to 
a  dozen  fowls,  given  at  intervals  of  about 
three  days,  in  equally-divided  doses. 

A  favourite  fowl  may  have  its  wing  bro- 
ken, or  we  may  wish  to  attempt  to  domes- 
ticate some  wild  fowl,  when  it  will  be  ne- 
cessary to  amputate  the  wing  in  order  to 
keep  them  within  our  control.  This  is  usu- 
ally done  in  a  coarse,  bungling  way,  by 
crushing  the  bone  with  a  strong  pair  of  scis- 
sors, and  then  with  a  redhot  iron  searing 
the  part,  in  order  to  prevent  the  effusion  of 
blood.  This  is  unnecessarily  painful,  and  in 
eight  cases  out  of  ten  is  accompanied  with 
loss  of  life.  All  this  pain  may  be  avoided, 
and  the  operation  rendered  more  secure,  by 
the  following,  process,  which  prevents  the 
loss  of  blood,  and  the  subsequent  inflamma- 
tion is  comparatively  trifling. 

Fig.  8.  We  must  first,  however, 

invite  the  attention  of  the 
operator  to  the  annexed 
figure  (fig.  8),  which  ex- 
hibits the  principal  bones 
to  be  operated  upon.  It 
is  not  worth  while  to  enter 


AMPUTATION.  J35 

into  minute  anatomical  details,  but  it  is  suf- 
ficient to  observe  that  the  principal  blood- 
vessels lie  underneath  the  bones,  and  not  far 
from  them.  From  the  bones  marked  1,  2, 
and  3,  proceed  the  great  primaries  or  quill 
feathers,  usually  consisting  of  ten  or  twelve. 
From  4,  which  corresponds  with  the  fore  arm 
in  man,  proceed  the  lesser  or  secondary  quills, 
consisting  of  twelve  or  fourteen  feathers,  and 
which  cover  the  quills  when  the  wing  is 
closed.  If  we  desire  to  take  off  only  eight 
or  nine  quills,  which  are  sufficient  for  ducks, 
operate  at  a  ;  but  for  partridges,  quails,  and 
common  fowls,  operate  at  b.  Make  use  of 
a  long  needle,  and  a  double,  strong,  waxed 
thread.  Let  the  bird  be  held  by  an  assist- 
ant, and,  having  cut  away  the  feathers  at 
the  place  to  be  operated  on,  pass  the  needle 
through  between  the  bones  as  close  as  pos- 
sible to  the  lesser  bone,  taking  the  inside 
of  that  bone  for  guiding  the  point  of  the 
needle.  Return  the  needle  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  great  bone,  a  little  within  the 
skin ;  then  bring  the  two  ends  together  and 
make  a  double  turn  in  the  first  knot,  to  pre- 


136  AMPUTATION. 

vent  slipping  after  tying,  and  draw  the  knot 
strongly  so  as  to  form  a  ligature  upon  the 
vessels,  and  then  tie  a  second  knot.  By 
this  means  the  large  brachial  artery,  which 
lies  on  the  inside  of  the  larger  bone,  is  se- 
cured, and  the  danger  of  bleeding  to  death 
is  prevented.  Then  place  the  wing  on  a 
block  of  wood,  and  with  a  sharp  knife  and 
a  hammer  cut  off  the  bones,  about  an  eighth 
of  an  inch  beyond  the  ligature. 

If  it  becomes  necessary,  from  some  acci- 
dent, to  amputate  at  Z>,  pass  the  needle  as 
before ;  then  with  a  sharp  knife  cut  down 
through  the  flesh,  and  separate  the  bone  in 
the  manner  before  described  ;  in  this  case, 
however,  the  ligature  should  pass  around 
each  bone  separately.  No  after-treatment 
in  either  case  is  necessary. 

The  French  describe  a  disease  incident 
to  fowls  which  they  call  la  pepie,  but  which 
I  have  not  seen.  The  fowl  with  this  disease 
ceases  drinking  and  clucking,  the  comb  be- 
comes pale,  and  its  movements  languid* 
Upon  opening  the  mouth,  a  yellowish  pelli- 
cle is  found  on  the  tip  of  the  tongue.  This 


OTHER    DISEASES.  137 

is  recommended  to  be  taken  off  with  a  pin, 
and  the  fowl  afterward  forced  to  swallow 
some  wine.  We  do  not  comprehend  either 
the  nature  of  the  disease  or  the  rationality 
of  the  remedy.  There  is,  however,  a  dis- 
ease incident  to  fowls  which  is  always  fa- 
tal, but  is  fortunately  of  rare  occurrence. 
A  hen  is  observed  to  be  sluggish  in  her  mo- 
tions, averse  to  the  cock,  carries  her  head 
and  neck  up  straight,  with  her  belly  drag- 
ging on  the  ground.  Often  she  feeds  ea- 
gerly and  voraciously,  and  becomes  very 
fat,  and  even  continues  to  lay,  until  some 
day  she  is  found  dead  in  the  poultry-yard. 
Upon*  opening  her,  the  oviduct  is  discovered 
to  be  ruptured,  and  an  egg  in  the  last  stage 
of  putrefaction  is  found  among  her  intes- 
tines. 

With  one  general  remark  we  will  close 
this  chapter.  Whenever  the  nature  of  the 
disease  in  adult  fowls  is  unknown,  and  in- 
terrupts their  usual  functions,  or,  if  known, 
is  utterly  irremediable,  such  as  convulsions, 
blindness,  the  bursting  of  an  egg  in  the 
body,  or  *  some  internal  ulcer,  humanity  re- 


138  FOOD    OF    FOWLS. 

quires  that  it  should  be  put  out  of  misery  at 
once.  It  is  the  kindest  act  of  mercy,  and  is 
at  the  same  time  required  by  its  interference 
with  the  ordinary  operations  of  the  poultry- 
yard. 


CHAPTER  XL 

Ordinary  Food  of  Fowls. — A  frequent  Change  necessary. — Es- 
timate of  the  comparative  Value  of  Eggs  and  Chickens. — 
Hints  to  Writers  on  this  Subject. — Determination  of  the  Age 
of  Fowls  exposed  in  the  Markets. — Value  of  the  Poultry  in 
the  United  States. 

FOWLS  are  essentially  granivorous,  and  in 
a  slight  degree  herbivorous  ;  in  other  words, 
they  live  chiefly  upon  grain  and  seeds,  and 
occasionally  upon  grasses.  In  a  state  of  na- 
ture, this  forms  the  bulk  of  their  food.  Do- 
mestication, which  produces  so  many  chan- 
ges in  their  functions  and  habits,  is  also  not 
without  its  influence  upon  their  appetites ; 
hence  we  see  them  in  a  poultry-yard  devour- 
ing all  sorts  of  meat,  however  putrid,  and 
the  most  rancid  fat  with  the  greatest  avidity. 

Of  all  the  grains,  they  appear  to  prefer 
Indian  corn  or  maize.  I  have  several  times 


FOOD    OF    FOWLS.  139 

placed  before  them  equal  quantities  of  maize, 
wheat,  buckwheat,  oats,  and  rye,  and  the 
corn  was  invariably  first  eaten.  Next  to 
this,  wheat  is  preferred,  but  its  price  deters 
many  from  using  it.  Some  have  recom- 
mended to  feed  fowls  with  tail  wheat,  or 
what  is  known  under  the  name  of  wheat- 
screenings,  upon  the  same  rational  principle, 
I  presume,  that  they  would  give  bran  to 
their  horses,  instead  of  oats  or  corn. 

The  cultivation  of  the  common  sunflower, 
Helianlhus  annuus,  has  been  highly  recom- 
mended by  some  poultry  breeders.  In  Rus- 
sia, where  these  seeds  are  used  by  man  and 
beast  to  a  great  extent,  they  are  said  to  fat- 
ten fowls  better  than  anything  else,  and  to 
increase  the  number  of  eggs  more  than  any 
other  kind  of  grain.  The  seeds  are  oily,  and 
very  nutritious.  Some  content  themselves 
with  throwing  down  the  heads  of  the  plant, 
when  ripe,  to  the  fowls,  to  help  themselves  ; 
others,  more  careful,  thresh  them  out  gently, 
and  preserve  them  for  future  use.  They 
are,  however,  apt  to  become  rancid  and 
mouldy  if  kept  together  for  any  considerable 


140  FOOD    OF    FOWLS. 

length  of  time  in  large  quantities.  Muoh  of 
this  might  be  obviated  by  drying  them  pre- 
viously in  the  sun,  and  keeping  them,  in  di- 
vided parcels,  in  dry  and  cool  situations. 
They  are  excellent  in  fattening  fowls,  and, 
in  spite  of  the  common  belief  that  fat  fowls 
do  not  lay  well,  we  assert  that  the  better 
they  are  fed,  the  more  numerous,  larger,  and 
better  flavoured  are  the  eggs.  We  believe 
it,  however,  to  be  true,  that  fat  hens  do  not 
make  very  steady  sitters,  but  this  is  compen- 
sated by  the  increased  number  of  eggs. 

The  seeds  of  broom-corn,  Sorghum  sac- 
charatum,  are  particularly  relished  by  fowls, 
and  a  bushel  of  them,  it  is  said,  will  go  as  far 
as  a  bushel  of  wheat.  I  am  not  aware  that 
they  are  ever  offered  for  sale,  but  when  the 
plant  is  cultivated  for  brooms,  it  would  be 
well  to  preserve  the  seeds  for  feed. 

From  various  experiments,  it  would  ap- 
pear that,  when  as  much  grain  is  placed  be- 
fore fowls  as  they  can  eat,  ten  fowls  will  con- 
sume a  quart  of  grain  daily.  This,  however, 
only  occurs  when  they  can  obtain  no  other 
food.  When  they  have  the  range  of  a  large 


FOOD    OF    FOWLS.  141 

barnyard,  and  are  allowed  to  rim  about 
the  fields  in  spring  and  summer  during  a 
part  of  the  day,  as  recommended  in  the  pre- 
ceding pages,  they  will  scarcely  consume 
more  than  half  that  quantity. 

The  best  practice  we  believe  to  be,  not 
to  confine  them  for  any  length  of  time  to 
any  particular  kind  of  food,  but  to  vary  it 
every  week  or  two  ;  or,  mix  up  in  one 
bin  equal  quantities  of  corn,  wheat,  rye,  bar- 
ley, oats,  and  buckwheat,  and  from  this  fill 
up  the  feeding-hopper  already  described. 
If  the  food  is  previously  soaked  in  water,  I 
have  no  doubt  that  it  would  go  much  far- 
ther than  in  a  dry  state,  but  I  have  as  yet 
made  no  precise  experiments  on  this  subject. 
Once  or  twice  a.  week  it  is  a  good  plan  to 
give  them  raw  potatoes,  chopped  up  into 
small  p^eqes,  or,  what  is  better,  potatoes 
which  have  been  steamed  or  boiled.  Sweet 
and  rotten  apples,  all  the  refuse  vegetables 
of  the  kitchen,  fat  skimrned  from  the  kettles, 
and  tainted  pieces  of  meat,  will  be  greedily 
devoured  by  fowls,  and  may  be  given  to 
them  without  stint.  In  short,  there  is  hard- 


142      FOWLS    AS    AN  ARTICLE    OF    PROFIT. 

ly  anything  which  you  may  not  give  them 
except  salt.  I  have  read  an  account  of  one 
who  killed  fifty  fowls  by  giving  them  meal 
which  had  been  salted  for  a  horse,  and  of 
another  who  destroyed  a  flock  of  thirty 
young  turkeys  by  mixing  a  spoonful  of  salt 
in  their  food.  When  fowls  are  not  permit- 
ted to  range  about  in  summer  at  all,  it  is 
well  to  supply  them  daily  with  fresh  grass 
cut  very  short,  and  such  weeds  as  are  taken 
from  the  garden. 

To  those  who  keep  but  a  few  fowls,  which 
are  left  to  shift  for  themselves,  and  who  are 
satisfied  with  their  produce,  whether  in  eggs 
or  chickens,  provided  they  have  no  trouble 
about  them,  the  following  remarks  will  have 
but  little  interest.  We  propose  to  offer  a 
few  remarks  on  the  keeping  of  fowls  as  an 
article  of  profit,  and  the  value  of  their  prod- 
ucts. That  this  in  the  aggregate  must  be 
very  considerable,  no  one  can  entertain  the 
least  doubt,  and  the  amount  of  capital  in- 
vested in  the  United  States  in  this  apparent- 
ly inconsiderable  branch  of  domestic  indus- 
try is  very  great.  This  will  be  evident  from 


VALUE    OF    POULTRY. 


143 


the  following  abstract  from  the  returns  made 
by  the  census  of  1840,  exhibiting  the  total 
value  of  all  the  poultry  in  the  various  states 
and  territories  of  the  Union. 


States. 

Maine 

Value  in  Dollars. 

$123  171 

New-Hampshir 

3 

97,862 

Vermont  .    . 

176,437 

Massachusetts 

540,295 

Rhode  Island 

61,492 

Connecticut  . 

176,659 

New-York    . 

2,373,029 

New-Jersey  . 

412,487 

Pennsylvania 

1,033,172 

Delaware 

47,465 

Maryland 
Virginia    .     . 

219,159 
752,467 

North  Carolina 

544,125 

South  Carolina 

590,594 

Georgia    .    . 

473,158 

Ohio     .    .    . 

734,931 

States . 

Kentucky 
Tennessee 
Louisiana 
Mississippi 
Alabama  . 
Missouri  . 
Indiana     . 
Illinois 
Michigan  . 
Arkansas . 
Florida  (incomplete) 
Wisconsin    .     .    . 

Iowa 

District  of  Columbia 


Value  in  Dollars. 

$536,439 
581,531 
273,314 
369,481 
829,220 
230,283 
393,228 
330,968 
82,730 
93,549 
61,007 
16,167 
17,101 
3,092 


Total  .  .  .  $12,176,170 

In  the  outset  of  our  calculations  of  profits, 
we  are  met  with  this  difficulty,  that  much  of 
the  advantage  must  depend  upon  the  vicini- 
ty or  readiness  of  access  to  a  market.  Per- 
haps the  fairest  estimate  would  be  made  by 
considering  the  produce  of  a  poultry-yard 
as  dedicated  entirely  to  the  consumption  of 
the  family,  and  establishing  its  value  at  some 
fixed  rate,  even  although  that  should  be  con- 
siderably under  the  nominal  market  value. 

It  is  very  well  known  that  every  article  of 
food  has  now  (1843)  reached  its  lowest  point 


144  VALUE    OF    POULTRY. 

of  depression  ;  and  it  is  equally  well  known 
that  the  consumer,  especially  in  large  cities, 
buys  his  eggs  and  fowls  at  two,  and  often 
three  prices,  or,  in  other  words,  they  furnish 
a  profit  to  two  or  three  persons  before  it 
passes  into  his  hands.  The  farmer,  for  in- 
stance, we  will  suppose,  sells  his  pair  of 
chickens  for  twenty-five  cents  to  the  market- 
er (or  hig-ler,  as  he  is  called  in  England), 
who  drives  about  the  country  and  buys  them 
up  of  the  farmers.  This  person  puts  on  ten 
cents,  and  the  rnarketrnan  in  the  city  adds 
ten  cents  more.  The  profits  of  this  last  are 
usually  greater  than  this  sum.  Some  farm- 
ers are  in  the  practice  of  dressing  their  OWE 
fowls  for  market,  and  consign  them  to  i 
marketman,  who  sells  them  to  the  best  ad 
vantage,  and  charges  twelve  and  a  half  pe 
cent,  for  his  trouble.  I  cannot  say  by  whicl 
method  the  consumer  pays  the  most,  but  the 
latter,  undoubtedly,  gives  the  best  returns  to 
the  poultry  breeder. 

The  question  has  frequently  been  asked, 
Which  are  most  profitable,  eggs  or  chickens  ? 
and  the  general  opinion  inclines  to  the  for- 


VALUE    OP    POULTRY.  145 

mer.  This,  however,  appears  to  be  one  of 
those  opinions  taken  up  and  adopted  with- 
out due  examination.  Fifty  hens,  if  well 
kept,  will  produce  from  five  to  seven  thou- 
sand eggs  annually,  or,  at  the  rate  of  a 
cent  a  piece,  from  fifty  to  seventy  dollars. 
If  we  confine  our  attention  exclusively  to 
chickens,  it  would  be  within  bounds  to  esti- 
mate their  number  at  four  hundred,  or  two 
hundred  pairs,  which,  at  the  rate  of  half  a  dol- 
lar per  pair,  would  produce  one  hundred  dol- 
lars. It  is  supposed  that  the  surplus  in  eggs 
would  pay  for  all  the  feed  required. 

These  are,  however,  only  approximations 
to  the  value  of  the  products  from  poultry,  as 
much  must  depend  on  the  capability  of  the 
poulterer  to  take  advantage  of  the  best  mar- 
kets, and  his  skill  in  fattening  them  to  the 
proper  point.  In  England,  where  every  de- 
partment of  labour  has  received  its  most  mi- 
nute subdivision,  the  business  of  fattening 
poultry  is  engrossed  entirely  by  the  poulter- 
er, so  that  every  pair  of  fowls  passes  through 
four  hands  before  it  reaches  the  consumer. 
These  are  the  breeder,  the  higler,  the  poul- 
M 


146  VALUE    OF   POULTRY. 

terer,  and  the  marketman ;  the  two  latter 
are,  however,  often  united.  We  have  al- 
ready seen,  by  the  published  statements,  that 
in  some  instances  the  profits  are  actually 
over  one  hundred  per  cent.,  and  under  the 
best  management  this  may  be  doubled.  It  is 
probable  that  an  equal  attention  to  both  prod- 
ucts simultaneously  will  be  found  most  ad- 
vantageous. Those  who  have  carefully  at- 
tended to  this  subject  will  confer  a  lasting 
favour  upon  the  community  by  publishing 
the  results  of  their  experience.  To  render 
this  more  extensively  useful,  their  statements 
should  include,  1.  The  number  of  cocks  and 
hens,  and  a  description  of  the  breed ;  2. 
The  circumstances  under  which  they  are 
kept,  and  the  nature  of  their  food ;  3.  The 
cost  of  food  and  attendance  ;  4.  Nett  value 
of  eggs  and  chickens, 

We  conclude  this  part  of  our  subject  by  a 
few  brief  hints  to  those  who  purchase  poul- 
try in  the  markets.  When  fowls  are  expo- 
sed for  sale  with  their  legs  cut  off,  it  may 
be  presumed  that  they  are  old,  and  adapted 
only  for  broth.  Some  judgment  of  the  age 


HOW   TO    DETECT   YOUNG    FOWLS.          147 

of  fowls  may  be  formed  by  the  appearance 
of  the  legs  and  feet ;  in  aged  fowls  these  are 
rough  and  stiff,  and  the  toes  stout  and  worn ; 
the  skin  on  the  body  is  also  coarse  and  rough ; 
but  in  regard  to  this  latter  circumstance, 
there  is  a  great  difference  even  among  fowls 
of  the  same  age.  Yellow-legged  fowls  have 
a  smoother  skin  than  others.  In  young 
fowls,  the  lower  part  of  the  breast  bone  is 
soft  and  bends  easily,  and  the  skin  under  the 
wings  yields  readily  to  the  pressure  of  the 
fingers.  In  young  geese  and  ducks,  the 
webs  of  the  toes  are  very  thin,  and  almost 
transparent,  and  the  skin  may  be  ripped  up 
with  a  pin.  These  hints  are  worth  attend- 
ing to,  for  the  marketmen  are  often  in  the 
habit  of  putting  up  an  old  and  a  young  one 
in  the  same  pair,  and  you  may  have  on  your 
table  a  venerable,  tough  old  chanticleer  side 
by  side  with  his  descendant  in  the  eighth  or 
tenth  generation. 


148  THE    DUCK. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Duck.  —  Domesticated  Species.  —  Mallard.—  Muscovy.— 
Wood  Duck. — Best  Mode  of  fattening  them. — Canvass-back 
Duck. — Attempts  to  Domesticate  it. 

OF  the  forty-five  species  of  ducks  found 
in  Europe  and  America,  but  three  have  been 
domesticated,  and  of  these  only  two  have 
been  so  completely  tamed  as  to  be  rendered 
subservient  to  the  uses  of  man.  These  two 
are, 

1.  Anas  boschas,  or   Mallard,  the  stock 
)f  our  common  tame  duck,  and, 

2.  Anas  (Gymnathus)  moschata,  Muscovy 
Duck,  improperly  so  called,  for  it  is  exclu- 
sively  a  native,    in   its  wild   state,   of   the 
tropical  regions  of  America. 

The  other,  not  so  completely  domestica- 
ted, is  the 

3.  Anas  sponsa,  Wood  or  Summer  Duck, 
remarkable  for  its  gaudy  plumage. 

Of  the  common  tame  duck  there  are  sev- 

* 

eral  varieties,  but  the  most  profitable  are 


THE  COMMON    DUCK.  149 

those  with  a  tuft  of  feathers  on  one  side  of 
the  head,  resembling  a  large  cockade. 
They  lay  in  the  course  of  a  year,  when  well 
kept,  more  than  one  hundred  bluish  eggs  ; 
but  as  they  drop  them  about  anywhere,  even 
in  water,  they  are  usually  shut  up  at  night 
during  the  laying  season,  and  only  permit- 
ted to  have  access  to  the  water  in  the  after- 
noon. Nor  is  it  usual  to  trust  ducks  wil'i 
the  rearing  of  a  brood ;  this  is  more  effect- 
ually done  by  placing  the  eggs  under  a  sit- 
ting hen.  They  are  gross  feeders,  arid  will 
greedily  devour  the  most  corrupt  and  putrid 
animal  and  vegetable  substances. 

The  most  profitable  mode  of  raising  ducks 
for  market,  or  for  one's  own  use,  is  to  shut 
them  up  in  a  pen  well  littered  with  straw 
and  frequently  renewed,  and  never  to  allow 
them  to  have  any  water  to  swim  in,  but 
enough  to  satisfy  their  thirst.  Give  them  a 
full  supply  of  corn,  oats,  boiled  potatoes, 
and  as  much  fat,  and  even  tainted  meat  or 
fish,  with  cabbages,  or  lettuce,  or  parsley, 
as  they  can  devour.  Continue  this  for  a 
rronth,  and  then  let  them  have  only  corn 


150  THE    COMMON   DUCK. 

and  oats,  with  pure  water,  and  at  the  end 
of  two  months  or  six  weeks  from  the  shell, 
they  are  sweet-flavoured,  fat,  and  fit  for  the 
table.  In  consequence  of  their  great  vo- 
racity, it  is  not  profitable  to  keep  them  much 
Longer.  In  the  autumn  and  winter,  the  old 
ones  maybe  permitted  to  take  to  the  water. 
Cobbet,  in  his  "  Cottage  Economy,"  a  book 
which  should  find  a  place  on  the  bookshelf 
of  every  farmer,  observes,  that  ducks  will 
feed  on  garbage,  and  all  sorts  of  filthy  things, 
but  their  flesh  is  strong'  and  bad  in  propor- 
tion. "  They  are,  on  Long  Island,  fatten- 
ed upon  a  coarse  kind  of  crab,  called  a 
horse-foot  (Limulus  polyphemus),  prodigious 
quantities  of  which  are  cast  upon  the  shores. 
The  young  ducks  grow  very  fast  upon  this, 
and  very  fat ;  but  wo  unto  him  that  has  to 
smell  them  when  they  come  from  the  spit; 
and  as  for  eating  them,  a  man  must  have  a 
stomach  indeed  to  do  that." 

It  is,  however,  within  my  own  experience, 
that,  no  matter  what  may  have  been  the  pre- 
vious food  of  the  duck,  if  we  give  them  as 
much  corn  or  oats,  with  a  little  fat,  as  they 


THE    WOOD    DUCK.  151 

can  eat,  for  about  a  fortnight,  their  flavour 
will  be  all  that  can  be  desired. 

Awkward  and  clumsy  as  the  duck  ap- 
pears to  be,  and  ill  provided  as  he  is  with 
offensive  arms,  he  is  more  than  a  match  for 
the  stoutest  cock  in  the  poultry-yard ;  and 
as  these  combats  frequently  take  place,  it  is 
well  to  keep  ducks  in  a  separate  enclosure. 
Ducks  in  this  latitude  commence  laying 
about  the  middle  or  end  of  March,  accord- 
ing to  the  season,  and  one  drake  is  said  to 
be  required  for  five  ducks.  The  term  of 
sitting  extends  to  thirty  days. 

The  Wood  Duck,  which  we  have  noticed 
above,  has  been  reared  in  a  state  of  domesti- 
cation for  the  sake  of  its  extraordinary  beauty 
and  the  price  which  it  brings  in  the  market 
alive.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  obtain  from 
three  to  four  dollars  a  pair,  male  and  female, 
and  this  may  render  it  an  object  to  raise 
them.  This,  however,  cannot  be  done  ad- 
vantageously, unless  you  have  a  pond  with 
a  convenient  house  in  the  centre,  or  a  hol- 
low log,  which  appears  to  suit  them  better. 

We  earnestly  hope  that  some  well-plan- 


152  THE    MUSCOVY   DUCK. 

ned  attempts  will  be  made  to  domesticate 
our  delicious  canvass-back  duck  (Anas  va- 
lisneria}.  It  has  a  large  carcass,  which  will 
doubtless  be  rendered  still  larger  in  a  state 
of  domestication.* 

The  Muscovy,  or,  more  properly,  the  Musk 
Duck,  is  well  worthy  the  attention  of  the 
farmer,  although  it  does  not  seem  so  well 
adapted  for  the  colder  climate  of  the  Middle 
States.  The  same  plan  should  be  adopted 
as  with  the  common  duck,  and  the  ducklings 
should  be  disposed  of  as  soon  as  they  are 
fattened.  The  old  duck  has  a  strong  and 
disagreeable  rank  and  musky  flavour,  which 
renders  it  necessary  to  remove  the  oil-bag 
when  preparing  it  for  the  spit.  This  spe- 
cies habitually  breed  on  trees,  and  therefore 
some  contrivance  resembling  a  tree  must  be 
employed  to  encourage  them  to  lay. 

*  Since  writing  the  above,  I  learn  that  the  canvass-back  has 
been  introduced  within  a  few  years  into  England,  and  that  the 
experiments  already  being  made  to  domesticate  them  promise 
complete  success. 


THE    GOOSE.  153 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Goose. — Domesticated  Species. — Common  Goose. — Large 
Bremen  Breed. — Wild  Goose. —  Mongrels. —  Chinese. — The 
Brant. — Plucking  Live  Geese  as  practised  in  England. — Rem- 
edy proposed. — Extensive  Pastures  required. — The  Swan. 

OF  this  genus  and  its  kindred  five  species 
have  been  domesticated.     These  are, 

1.  Anser  cinereus  (Meyer),  or  Gray  Lag, 
from  Europe,  the  original  stock  of  our  com- 
mon domestic  goose. 

2.  Anser  Canadensis,  the  Wild  Goose  of 
North  America. 

3.  A.  cygnoides,  the  China  Goose. 

4.  Anser  bernicla,    or    Brant,   from   the 
northern  parts  of  Europe  and  America. 

5.  Cygnusferus,  or  Swan  of  Europe. 

The  common  gray  goose  is  a  quiet,  in- 
offensive bird,  and  lives   to   a   great  age 
There  are  authenticated  statements  to  the 
effect  that  they  live  to  the  age  of  seventy  or 
eighty  years.     She  sits  upon  her  eggs  from 


154  THE    COMMON    GOOSE. 

twenty-eight  to  thirty  days,  covering  from 
eleven  to  fifteen  eggs.  If  well  kept,  she 
will  lay  many  more  eggs  than  she  can  cov- 
er, and  bring  forward  two  broods  during  a 
year.  They  are  scarcely  profitable  to  keep 
unless  they  have  the  range  of  an  extensive 
pasture  or  common,  when  they  require  no 
other  attention  or  food.  In  some  parts  of 
England  which  are  of  a  marshy  description, 
such  as  Lincolnshire,  the  raising  of  geese  is 
conducted  on  a  large  scale.  The  account 
given  by  Pennant*  of  their  management  in 
those  countries  is  curious. 

"  A  single  person  has  frequently  a  flock 
of  a  thousand  old  geese,  each  of  which  will 
rear  seven,  so  that  towards  the  end  of  the 
year  he  will  be  master  of  eight  thousand. 
During  the  breeding  season,  these  birds  are 
lodged  in  the  same  houses  with  the  inhabi- 
tants, and  even  in  their  very  bedchambers ; 
in  every  apartment  are  three  rows  of  coarse 
wicker  pens,  placed  one  above  another. 
Each  bird  has  its  separate  lodge  divided 
from  the  other,  which  it  keeps  possession  of 

*  Tour  in  Scotland,  p.  8. 


PLUCKING    GEESE.  155 

during  the  time  of  sitting.  A  person  called 
a  gozzard,  i.  e.,  goose-herd,  attends  the  flock, 
and  twice  a  day  drives  the  whole  to  water  ; 
then  brings  them  back  to  their  habitations, 
helping  those  that  live  in  the  upper  stories 
to  their  nests,  without  ever  misplacing  a 
single  bird. 

"  The  geese  are  plucked  five  times  in  the 
year  :  the  first  plucking  is  at  Lady-day 
(March  25),  for  feathers  and  quills  ;  and  the 
same  is  renewed  four  times  more  between 
that  and  Michaelmas  (Sept.  29),  for  the 
feathers  only.  The  old  geese  submit  quiet- 
ly to  the  operation,  but  the  young  ones  are 
very  noisy  and  unruly.  I  once  saw  this  per- 
formed, and  observed  that  goslings  of  six 
weeks  old  were  not  spared ;  for  their  tails 
were  plucked,  as  I  was  told,  to  habituate 
them  early  to  what  they  were  to  come  to. 
If  the  season  proves  cold,  numbers  of  the 
geese  die  by  this  barbarous  custom.  When 
the  flocks  are  numerous,  about  ten  pluckers 
are  employed,  each  with  a  coarse  apron  up 
to  his  chin. 

"  Vast  numbers  of  geese  are  driven  annual- 


156  A    SUBSTITUTE    FOR  PLUCKING. 

ly  to  London  to  supply  the  markets,  among 
them  all  the  superannuated  geese  and  gan- 
ders (called  here  Cag  Mags),  which,  by  a 
long  course  of  plucking,  prove  uncommonly 
tough  and  dry,  and  fatigue  the  jaws  of  the 
good  citizens  who  are  so  unfortunate  as  to 
meet  with  them." 

The  practice  of  plucking  live  geese,  which 
some  English  travellers  have  described  as  a 
barbarous  custom  peculiar  to  America,  is 
certainly  to  be  avoided,  if  possible.  A  rem- 
edy has  recently  been  proposed,  which  I 
should  be  pleased  to  find  generally  adopted. 
Instead  of  plucking,  let  the  feathers  be  re- 
moved with  sharp  scissors.  Much  unneces- 
sary torture  and  irritation  to  the  system  is 
saved,  and  the  feathers  themselves  are  in 
better  order  than  by  the  old  system. 

In  this  country  it  is  usual  to  pluck  geese 
twice  or  three  times  a  year.  The  first 
plucking  is  about  six  weeks  after  it  comes 
off  the  nest,  and  this  is  repeated  at  interval 
of  six  weeks.  It  is  thought  that  four  geese 
will  furnish  a  pound  of  feathers  during  the 
season.  This  is  usually  sold  for  fifty  cents 


PERIOD    OF    INCUBATION.  157 

per  pound.  In  plucking  geese,  it  is  impor- 
tant to  select  a  fine  day,  and  only  those  in 
perfect  health  should  be  subjected  to  the  op- 
eration ;  the  down  under  the  wings  is  usu- 
ally left  untouched,  as  it  is  very  slowly  re- 
placed. The  French  gooseherds  are  in  the 
practice  of  rubbing  every  goose,  after  the  op- 
eration of  plucking,  with  a  saturated  solution 
of  salt  in  vinegar.  It  is,  however,  at  best 
a  cruel  practice,  and  we  rejoice  in  the  be- 
lief that  the  introduction  of  steel  pens  will, 
before  long,  render  it  unnecessary  to  resort 
to  a  part,  at  least,  of  this  barbarity. 

The  goose  in  this  climate  will  begin  to 
lay  in  February,  or  the  early  part  of  March, 
according  to  the  severity  or  mildness  of  the 
season.  As  soon  as  she  is  observed  to  car- 
ry straws  in  her  bill,  a  nest  should  be  pre- 
pared for  her  in  some  suitable  place,  and 
after  she  commences  sitting,  food  should  be 
placed  near  the  nest.  The  goose  lays  from 
fifteen  to  eighteen  eggs,  and  her  period  of 
incubation  lasts  from  twenty-seven  to  thirty 
days. 

With  us,  the  young  brood,  provided  they 


158  FOOD. 

have  a  good  run  of  grass,  require,  or,  at  least, 
receive  very  little  attention.  To  make  them 
profitable,  however,  they  should  be  regular- 
ly fed  twice  a  day.  The  food  may  consist 
of  cracked  corn,  sliced  cabbages,  buck- 
wheat, carrots,  turnips,  either  boiled  or  raw, 
thrown  into  shallow  vessels  containing  wa- 
ter. Skimmed  milk,  when  it  can  be  readily 
obtained,  is  to  be  preferred,  as  it  has  a  great- 
er tendency  to  fatten  them.  It  is  a  com- 
mon practice  with  our  farmers  to  allow  their 
geese  to  run  in  the  public  highways,  to  the 
great  annoyance  of  travellers,  and  of  their 
neighbours.  Such  practices  are  illegal,  and 
subject  them  to  heavy  penalties  in  case  of 
accidents;  but  surely  no  honest  man,  who 
desires  not  to  offer  any  impediments  to  the 
travelling  public,  nor  to  suffer  the  property 
of  his  neighbour  to  be  injured,  need  be  re- 
minded that  he  is  acting  against  the  law. 

The  stupidity  of  the  goose  has  passed  into 
a  proverb,  and  yet  those  who  have  raised 
many,  attribute  to  them  more  sagacity  than 
is  generally  found  in  any  other  domesticated 
fowl.  In  the  London  Magazine  of  Natu- 


SAGACITY  OF  THE  GOOSE.       159 

ral  History  there  occurs  a  remarkable  anec- 
dote in  point.  An  old  goose,  that  had  been 
sitting  upon  her  eggs  for  two  weeks  in  a 
farmer's  kitchen,  was  perceived  on  a  sudden 
to  be  taken  violently  ill.  She  soon  after  left 
the  nest  and  repaired  to  an  outhouse,  where 
there  was  a  young  goose  of  the  first  year  ; 
this  she  brought  into  the  kitchen.  The 
young  one  immediately  scrambled  into  the 
old  one's  nest,  sat,  hatched,  and  afterward 
brought  up  the  brood.  The  old  goose,  as 
soon  as  the  young  one  had  taken  her  place, 
sat  down  by  the  side  of  the  nest,  and  short- 
ly after  died.  The  young  goose  had  never 
been  in  the  habit  of  entering  the  kitchen  be- 
fore, and  the  person  who  relates  the  trans- 
action received  the  account  the  same  day 
it  occurred  from  his  sister,  who  witnessed  it. 
In  Europe,  where  the  luxury  of  the  ta- 
ble is  proudly  pointed  to  as  one  of  the  in- 
dices of  a  refined  civilization,  the  unfortu- 
nate goose  is  subjected  to  a  series  of  cruel 
tortures,  which  we  should  say  could  only  be 
practised  by  a  tribe  of  miserable  barbarians. 
The  goose  is  first  deprived  of  its  eyes,  then 


160  CRUEL    PRACTICE. 

nailed  by  its  feet  to  a  board,  and  placed  in 
an  oven  at  a  heat  of  80°  of  Fahrenheit.  In 
this  state  it  is  stuffed  four  times  a  day,  and 
kept  for  three  weeks,  or  until  it  dies,  with 
its  liver  enormously  enlarged,  and,  of  course, 
diseased.  This  festering  liver  forms  the 
vaunted  pate  de  foie  g-ras,  which  is  put  up 
in  lard,  and  has  been  deemed  worthy  of  ex- 
portation to  this  country.  Its  high  price 
renders  it,  of  course,  an  object  of  ambition 
to  those  who  wish  to  figure  in  the  ranks  of 
fashion,  but,  from  the  nature  of  the  article, 
not  more  than  an  ounce  or  two  can  be  eaten 
at  a  time.  There  is  a  story  current  of  an 
Englishman  at  Paris  who,  having  heard  it 
much  praised,  sent  for  a  pot  of  it  containing 
a  pound,  and  ate  it  all  up  at  one  meal,  to 
gether  with  the  lard  in  which  it  was  imbed 
ded.  He  observed  afterward  that  he  did 
not  think  much  of  it,  "  for  it  made  him  as 
sick  as  a  horse  for  several  days  !" 

Within  the  last  ten  or  twelve  years,  a 
new  breed  of  geese  has  been  introduced 
into  the  United  States  from  Bremen,  by  Mr. 
James  Sisson,  of  Rhode  Island,  which  is 


RAISING    OF    WILD    GEESE.  161 

rapidly  taking  the  place  of  the  old  stock. 
They  are  usually  of  a  pure  white,  grow  to  a 
much  larger  size,  attaining  the  weight  of 
eighteen  or  twenty  pounds,  while  the  com- 
mon gray  goose  averages  from  eight  to  ten 
pounds  only.  They  are  also  raised  with 
great  ease,  fatten  readily  with  comparative- 
ly less  food,  and  have  a  very  superior  fla- 
vour. 

Where  one  has  access  to,  or  control  over  a 
large  pond,  the  raising  of  wild  geese  (Anser 
Canadensis)  may  be  made  profitable.  When 
they  are  turned  in  with  the  common  goose, 
the  wild  gander  attaches  himself  to  one  exclu- 
sively, and  neglects  all  others  ;  the  mongrel 
produced  between  them  is  of  a  superior  fla- 
vour, and  has  a  corresponding  market  value. 
We  know  of  some  persons  who  keep  wild 
geese  in  lonely  situations,  and  every  year 
contrive  by  these  means  to  decoy  flocks  of 
wild  geese  flying  over  in  their  annual  mi- 
grations. Mr.  Nuttall  relates  an  instance  of 
a  female  of  this  species  which  joined  a  party 
of  wild  geese  and  disappeared  until  autumn ; 
at  length,  out  of  a  passing  flock,  the  farmer 
N 


162  THE    WILD    GOOSE. 

observed  three  geese  to  detach  themselves 
from  their  companions,  and,  after  wheel- 
ing round  several  times,  alight  in  his  barn- 
yard, when,  to  his  astonishment,  he  recog- 
nised in  one  of  the  three  his  long-lost  fugi- 
tive, who  had  now  returned,  accompanied 
by  her  offspring,  to  share  the  hospitality  of 
her  former  acquaintance.  Many  parallel 
instances  of  this  kind  are  on  record. 

I  know  very  little  of  the  stately,  swan- 
like  China  goose,  distinguished  by  the 
horny  knob  on  its  bill.  It  is  said  to  be  very 
prolific,  and  its  meat  to  be  well  flavoured- 
From  the  very  few  which  I  have  seen  about 
farmyards,  I  should  think  that  it  was  not 
held  in  much  estimation. 

The  fat  of  the  goose,  commonly  called 
goose-grease,  is  considered  to  be  peculiarly 
subtile,  penetrating,  and  resolvent,  and  is 
generally  carefully  preserved  for  domestic 
applications. 

Besides  the  ordinary  diseases  of  geese, 
which  are  similar  to  those  of  other  domesti- 
cated birds,  and  which  are  to  be  treated  in 
the  same  manner,  they  are  subject  to  an- 


THE  BRANT  AND  SWAN.         163 

other,  which  is  almost  peculiar  to  this  tribe. 
It  is  a  species  of  apoplexy,  in  which  the  an- 
imal drops  down  suddenly,  and,  unless  as- 
sisted, dies  on  the  spot.  The  remedy  is  to 
open  with  a  penknife  or  lancet  a  vein  un- 
der the  foot. 

The  Brant,  which  in  its  wild  state  is 
highly  esteemed  (particularly  the  young) 
for  the  exquisite  delicacy  of  its  meat,  has 
been  domesticated.  This  does  not,  how- 
ever, appear  to  have  improved  it  much,  and 
its  small  size  will  scarcely  render  it  (except 
for  curiosity)  an  object  of  much  attention. 

The  Swan  is  only  kept  as  an  ornament  on 
pieces  of  water  in  pleasure-grounds,  and, 
as  we  suppose,  is  chiefly  valued  for  the  po- 
etic associations  connected  with  its  history. 
In  England,  I  observe  that  its  place  is  now 
almost  exclusively  occupied  at  the  present 
day  by  the  A.  Canadensis,  or  common  wild 
goose  of  this  country.  In  Europe  the  swan 
begins  to  lay  in  February,  and  sits  upon 
seven  or  eight  eggs.  The  period  of  incu- 
bation lasts  six  weeks. 


164  THE    TURKEY. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Turkey. — Its  Origin. — Food  in  Summer  chiefly  Insects. — 
Treatment  of  the  Young.— To  be  guarded  against  Wet.— 
Mongrels. — Caponizing. — The  Christmas  and  Thanksgiving 
Turkey. 

THE  Turkey  (Meleagris  gallopavo  of 
Linnaeus)  is  one  of  the  noblest  of  the  feath- 
ered tribe  which  has  been  made  subservient 
to  the  use  of  mankind.  It  is  a  native  of  this 
country,  where  it  was  found  domesticated 
by  the  first  European  discoverers.  There 
is  another  species  in  Honduras,  Yucatan, 
and  other  places  in  South  America,  M.  ocel- 
lata,  but  I  have  not  learned  whether  it  has 
ever  been  domesticated.  The  common  tur- 
key is  still  found  in  a  wild  state  in  some 
parts  of  New- York,  and  in  the  adjoining 
States  of  New-Jersey  and  Pennsylvania. 

It  is  difficult  to  imagine  how  the  absurd 
English  name  of  turkey  came  to  be  applied 
to  this  noble  bird.  Probably  it  arose  frorr 
the  ignorant  belief  in  England  that  it  came 


THE  TURKEY.   ^         165 

originally  from  Turkey.  The  French  named 
them  Coq  et  Poule  cVInde,  because  they 
were  natives  of  the  West  Indies,  and  this 
was  subsequently  corrupted  into  Dindon,  a 
name  which  they  still  retains. 

The  weight  of  the  wild  turkey  hen  is 
usually  about  nine  pounds.  The  wild  tur- 
key cocks  are  larger,  and  vary  more  in  their 
weight.  Usually  they  weigh  from  fifteen  to 
eighteen  pounds.  Audubon  mentions  hav- 
ing seen  one  exposed  for  sale  at  Louisville 
which  weighed  thirty-six  pounds. 

The  turkey  is  a  hardy  bird,  but  requires 
a  great  quantity  of  food.  It  has,  therefore, , 
become  a  general  practice  to  kill  off  the 
whole  brood  in  the  autumn,  reserving  only 
a  cock  and  two  or  three  hens  to  keep 
through  the  winter.  In  the  ordinary  way, 
as  soon  as  the  young  are  six  weeks  old,  it 
is  usual  to  turn  out  the  hen,  and  let  her  and 
her  brood  shift  for  themselves  until  autumn, 
when  they  are  shut  up  and  fattened.  They 
are  great  wanderers,  and  often  prove  a 
source  of  deserved  vexation  to  the  uncon- 
scientious  farmer  who  permits  them  thus  tc 


166  HABITS    OF    THE    TURKEY. 

ramble  about  with  the  positive  knowledge 
before  his  eyes  that  they  will  injure  his 
neighbours.  I  am  told  that  on  the  great 
plains  of  Long  Island,  turkeys  are  raised  in 
great  numbers  and  with  much  ease,  living 
on  the  grasshoppers  and  other  insects  which 
abound  there.  The  only  enemy  they  have 
to  fear  is  the  crow,  which  frequently  makes 
a  feast  upon  the  young.  When  thus  per- 
mitted to  wander,  they  will  steal  their  nests, 
as  it  is  termed,  but  they  seldom  return  to 
the  farmhouse  with  a  large  brood. 

A  farmer  in  Westchester  county,  some 
years  since,  procured  a  young  wild  hen  tur- 
key in  order  to  make  experiments  in  cross- 
ing the  breed,  but,  owing  to  some  circum- 
stance, it  did  not  succeed,  and  in  the  ensu- 
ing spring  she  disappeared.  In  the  follow- 
ing autumn  she  returned,  followed  by  a  large 
brood.  These  were  quite  shy,  but  by  a  lit- 
tle management  they  were  secured  in  a 
coop,  and  the  mother  allowed  her  liberty. 
She  remained  on  the  farm  until  the  succeed- 
ing spring,  when  she  again  disappeared,  and 
returned  in  the  autumn  with  another  brood. 


CAPON1ZED    TURKEY.  167 

This  course  she  repeated  for  several  suc- 
cessive years. 

The  wild  turkey  will  breed  readily  with 
the  domesticated  one,  and  the  produce  is 
readily  recognised  by  the  increased  brillian- 
cy of  its  coppery  metallic  hues,  and  the  ab- 
sence of  a  broad,  whitish  band  on  the  tip 
of  the  tail  coverts.  These  command  a  high- 
er price  in  the  market,  on  account  of  their 
superior  game  flavour. 

The  turkey  forms  an  excellent  subject  for 
caponizing.*  The  anatomy  of  the  parts  is 
similar  to  that  of  the  domestic  fowl,  and  the 
operation  offers  no  increased  difficulty.  The 
turkey  capon  attains  a  great  size,  and  its 
roaming  propensities  are  said  to  be  much  di- 
minished. We  have  the  turkey  of  various 
colours.  Neighbours  in  the  country  are  apt 
to  have  them  of  different  colours,  in  order  to 
distinguish  them  apart  when  the  flocks  mix 
together.  The  grayish  or  white  varieties 
are  preferred  by  some,  on  account  of  their 
beauty,  but  they  are  not  as  hardy  as  those 
which  are  dark  coloured  or  glossy  black. 

*  In  China  and  Java  it  is  frequently  capcorized. 


168  INCUBATION. 

Although  the  domestication  of  the  turkey 
is  comparatively  recent,  yet  several  varieties 
have  been  already  obtained.  The  most  re- 
markable of  these  is  the  Top-knot  or  tuft- 
ed turkey,  which  is,  however,  very  rare, 
the  tuft  being  white  in  some  instances  and 
black  in  others.  I  am  not  aware  that  this 
variety  possesses  any  advantageous  proper- 
ties over  the  others. 

The  turkey  should  be  confined  to  the  poul- 
try-yard until  she  has  finished  laying,  when 
she  should  be  supplied  with  a  suitable  nest, 
in  a  quiet  and  retired  situation.  Many  per- 
sons prefer  to  place  her  eggs  under  the  com- 
mon hen,  as  she  makes  a  more  quiet  and  at- 
tentive mother.  There  is  no  occasion  to 
feed  the  turkey  during  incubation,  for  if  your 
yard  is  provided  with  the  feeding-hopper  al- 
ready described,  she  will  help  herself  when- 
ever she  requires  food. 

Incubation  with  the  turkey  lasts  from  twen- 
ty-eight to  thirty  days.  As  soon  as  the 
chicks  are  hatched,  they  should  be  taken 
with  the  mother  and  placed  on  a  piece  of 
grass  within  an  enclosure  about  ten  feet 


CONFINEMENT.  169 

square,  made  by  boards  laid  on  their  edges 
md  secured  by  wooden  pegs.  In  one  cor- 
ler  of  this  enclosure  have  a  suitable  coop, 
boarded  at  the  bottom,  and  with  a  door, 
which  should  be  closed  in  wet  weather. 

Young  turkeys  are  very  delicate,  and  wet 
/veather  is  their  greatest  enemy.  So  well 
is  this  known,  that  our  farmers  anticipate 
from  what  they  call  "  a  wet  spell,"  the  de- 
struction of  the  greater  part  of  their  brood. 
This,  however,  only  happens  under  the  old- 
fashioned  "  let  alone"  policy. 

The  food  for  young  turkeys  is  Indian 
meal,  with  the  yolks  of  eggs  chopped  fine, 
and  rnilk  turned  to  curds.  As  they  grow 
older,  they  may  be  furnished  with  grain, 
and  occasionally  refuse  pieces  of  meat,  chop- 
ped up  fine.  Where  it  is  proposed  to  raise 
turkeys  on  a  large  scale,  it  v/ould  be  a  good 
plan  to  keep  them  within  a  large  enclosure, 
with  a  few  trees  in  it  to  allow  them  to  roost 
on.  By  clipping  one  of  the  wings  of  the  old 
ones,  arid  of  the  young  when  half  grown, 
the  necessity  for  a  very  high  fence  is  obvia- 
ted. After  the  hens  have  commenced  sit- 


170  FATTENING. 

ting,  the  turkey  cock  (or  gobbler,  as  he  is 
termed  by  unlettered  rustics)  should  be  re- 
moved and  kept  apart  from  the  flock  until 
they  are  half  grown,  as  he  becomes  trouble- 
some, and  frequently  kills  the  young  ones. 

The  demand  for  turkeys  in  winter,  and 
especially  for  Thanksgiving,  New-Year's 
Day,  and  Christmas,  is  so  great,  that  they 
are  usually  reserved  for  that  season  ;  indeed, 
it  is  a  general  belief  that  they  will  not  fatten 
properly  until  cold  weather.  This,  howev- 
er, is  a  great  mistake,  as  any  one  may  sat- 
isfy himself  by  making  the  experiment.  By 
attention  to  feeding  them  properly  with  corn 
and  buckwheat,  both  of  which  are  improved 
by  previously  soaking  them  in  water,  or  with 
boiled  rice,  sweetened  with  a  little  sugar  or 
molasses,  we  may  have  them  ready  for  the 
spit  at  a  much  earlier  period,  when  they  will 
probably  command  a  higher  price  than  at 
the  seasons  above  mentioned,  when,  from 
the  glutted  state  of  the  market,  they  often 
sell  for  less  than  their  actual  value. 

The  diseases  of  turkeys  are  similar  to 
those  of  common  fowls,  and  require  the 


DISEASES.  171 

same  treatment.  Almost  all  their  ailments 
proceed  from  wet,  which  must,  of  course,  be 
counteracted  by  the  appropriate  remedies. 
The  French  writers  speak  of  two  diseases 
incidental  to  turkeys,  le  pousse  du  rouge,  or 
the  red,  and  le  blanc,  or  the  white.  The  first 
occurs  when  their  wattles  begin  to  appear, 
and  wet  weather  comes  on ;  for  this  they 
recommend  crumbs  dipped  in  wine,  pepper, 
fennel,  and  other  stimulating  articles,  accom- 
panied with  bleeding  in  the  axillary  vein. 
A  better  practice  is  to  house  them,  and  feed 
with  corn  or  buckwheat.  The  second  I  only 
know  by  name,  but  it  appears  to  arise  from 
exposure  to  wet,  and  would  seem  to  require 
the  same  treatment.  In  France  they  also 
appear  to  be  liable  to  an  eruptive  disease, 
which  is  very  fatal,  but  which  I  have  never 
seen  in  this  country.  They  are,  however, 
subject  to  the  scratches,  which  is  usually  at- 
tributed to  buckwheat  feed. 


172  THE    PEACOCK. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Peacock. — Merely  Ornamental. — Guinea  Fowl. — Pigeons, 
— Dovecot. — Squabs  and  Squeakers. — The  Pheasant. — The 
Curassow. — Conclusion. 

THE  Peacock  (Pavo  cristatus)  is  a  native 
of  India,  and  found  still,  in  a  wild  state,  in 
Java  and  Ceylon.  The  age  of  the  peacock 
extends  to  twenty  years,  and  at  three  years 
the  tail  of  the  young  male  is  fully  developed. 
The  cock  is  mated  with  three  or  four  hens, 
and,  where  the  climate  agrees  with  them, 
they  are  very  prolific.  They  are  chiefly 
kept  for  their  extraordinary  beauty,  and  are 
said  to  be  useful  in  destroying  all  kinds  of 
reptiles.  Unfortunately,  however,  they  are 
not  easily  kept  within  bounds,  and  are  very 
destructive  to  gardens.  They  are  also  very 
vicious,  and,  unless  closely  watched,  will 
destroy  young  ducks  and  chickens.  They 
are  eaten  on  great  state  occasions  in  Europe, 
and  at  sumptuous  entertainments,  but  the 
flesh  is  coarse  and  ill  flavoured. 


THE    GUINEA   FOWL.  173 

They  live  on  the  same  food  with  other 
domestic  fowls,  and  require  nearly  the  same 
treatment. 

The  Guinea  Fowl  (Numidia  meleagris) 
was  introduced  into  Europe  and  this  country 
from  Africa,  where  it  still  exists  in  a  wild 
state.  It  is  too  well  known  to  require  de- 
scription. It  is  fond  of  low,  swampy  grounds, 
but  roosts  in  elevated  trees.  It  lays  numer- 
ous eggs,  but  can  rarely  be  induced  to  cov- 
er them,  for  which  reason  the  eggs  are  usu- 
ally placed  under  the  common  hen.  The 
male  and  female  are  so  much  alike  that  they 
cannot  be  distinguished  by  sight  alone.  The 
males,  however,  have  a  peculiar  note  by 
which  they  may  be  detected.  They  are 
noisy,  petulant,  and  restless  birds,  attacking 
the  largest  inhabitants  of  the  poultry-yard 
without  hesitation.  The  flesh  is  much  es- 
teemed, and  many  prize  this  bird  for  the 
number  and  excellence  of  its  eggs.  Its  ev- 
erlasting noise  and  its  quarrelsome  dispo- 
sition render  it  scarcely  a  desirable  bird  to 
rear.  For  barnyards  in  remote  and  lonely 
situations  it  is  valued  for  the  protection  it 


174  THE    PIGEON. 

affords  to  other  fowls,  for  its  harsh  and 
never-ceasing  cry  keeps  at  a  respectful  dis- 
tance all  owls,  hawks,  and  other  birds  of 
prey. 

The  stock  of  the  common  domestic  Pigeon 
is  the  Columbia  livia  of  authors.  The  ring- 
dove (C.  palumbus)  and  the  turtle-dove  (C. 
turtur]  are  often  kept  by  the  curious  in  such 
matters,  but  cannot  be  said  to  be  complete- 
ly domesticated.  Attempts  have  been  made 
to  domesticate  our  well-known  wild  pigeon 
(C.  migratoria),  but  hitherto  without  suc- 
cess.* 

A  dovecot  or  pigeon-house,  when  at- 
tached to  any  of  the  farm  buildings,  should, 
in  preference,  be  placed  in  one  where  no 
noisy  operations  are  carried  on.  The  great- 
est enemies  they  have  to  contend  with  are 
cats  and  rats,  and  it  is  difficult  to  pre- 
vent their  access  to  the  pigeon-house  thus 
constructed.  A  better  plan  is  to  raise  a 
boarded  house,  on  a  strong  post,  powerfully 
braced,  the  interior  sides  of  which  are  lined 

*  See  letter  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  Med   and  Phil.  Register, 
vol.  iii.,  p.  89. 


PIGEON-HOUSES. 


175 


with  boxes  for  the  birds  (a),          Fi    10- 

and   the    exterior,    east   and 

west  sides,  with  balconies  or 

sills  for  them  to  alight  on  and 

enter  their  boxes.     The  north 

and  south  sides  are  lined  with 

boxes    inside,    but     without 

openings,  as  being  too  warm 

on  one  side  and  too  cold  on 

the  other.     This  is  the  com- 

mon form  used  in  France,  and  the  bottom 

should  be  elevated  from  eight  to  fifteen  feet 

from  the  ground.     It  may  be  rendered  a 

tasteful  and  highly  ornamental  object. 

The  pigeon  is  monogamous,  that  is,  the 
male  attaches  himself  exclusively  to  one  fe- 
male, and  this  attachment  is  reciprocal.  For 
this  reason,  each  pair  requires  two  holes  or 
nests  about  eighteen  inches  wide,  separated 
by  a  low  partition,  and  carefully  closed  up 
from  the  others.  This  is  obviously  required, 
for  when  the  young  are  a  fortnight  or  three 
weeks  old,  a  good  hen  pigeon  will  leave 
them  to  the  care  of  the  cock,  and  commence 
laying  and  setting  again.  The  door  at  one 


176  FOOD. 

end  is  for  the  convenience  of  entering  to 
clean  the  nests,  to  replenish  the  water  and 
food,  and  to  take  out  such  of  the  squabs  or 
young  as  may  be  required  for  use.     In  some 
part  of  the  pigeon-house  should  be  kept  a 
small  feeding-hopper,  and  a  water-bottle  re- 
versed in  a  pan.     What  is  called  a  salt  cat 
is   placed   in   the   dovecots   in    Europe,  to 
attach  pigeons  to  the  place,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  to  furnish  them  with  a  grateful  condi- 
ment.    A  jar  or  any  cylindrical  vessel  is 
perforated  with  holes  to  admit  the  bills  of 
the  pigeons.     This  is  filled  with  gravel  or 
sand,  loam,  the   rubbish   of   old   walls,   or 
slacked  lime,  about  a  gallon  each.    To  this  is 
added  a  pound  of  cummin  seed  and  a  hand- 
ful of  coarse  salt,  and  the  whole  mixed  up 
with  stale  wine.     They  are  very  fond  of  this 
mixture.    To  make  a  pigeon-house  available 
to  its  greatest  extent,  it  should  be  cleaned  out 
slightly  every  day,  and  thoroughly  once  a 
week,  spreading  fresh  sand  on  the  floor. 

Many  persons  experience  great  difficulty 
in  commencing  a  pigeon  establishment,  as 
they  usually  desert  it  for  the  nearest  pigeon- 


SQUABS    AND    SQUEAKERS.  177 

house,  unless  great  pains  are  taken  with  them. 
The  best  method  is  to  commence  with  one 
or  two  pairs,  and  keep  them  shut  up  until 
they  have  produced  offspring ;  you  are  then 
sure  of  their  attachment  to  the  place. 

The  pigeon  lays  two  eggs,  and  sits  fifteen 
days,  relieved  at  intervals  by  the  male. 
The  young  are  fed  about  fifteen  days  longer, 
when  they  are  turned  out  to  shift  for  them- 
selves. While  fed  by  their  parents,  the  young 
are  called  squabs,  and  under  six  months, 
squeakers.  The  pigeon,  in  a  suitable  cli- 
mate, and  plentifully  supplied  with  food,  is 
said  to  hatch  a  brood  every  month  in  the 
year.  In  this  climate  they  produce  from 
eight  to  nine  broods  amiually  :  it  will  be  per- 
ceived, from  this,  that  they  may  be  made  to 
contribute  no  inconsiderable  item  of  food 
to  the  farmer's  table. 

Cobbet,  in  speaking  of  pigeons,  very  prop- 
erly observes,  "  It  is  not  supposed  that  there 
can  be  much  profit  attached  to  them,  but 
they  are  of  this  use :  they  are  very  pretty 
creatures ;  very  interesting  in  their  man- 
ners ;  they  are  an  object  to  delight  children, 
O 


178  UTILITY    OF    PIGEONS'. 

and  to  give  them  the  early  habit  of  fond- 
ness for  animals,  and  of  setting  a  value  on 
them,  which,  as  I  have  often  observed,  is  a 
very  great  thing.  For  the  man  to  be  trust- 
worthy in  this  respect,  the  boy  must  have 
been  in  the  habit  of  being  kind  and  consid- 
erate towards  animals ;  and  nothing  is  so 
likely  to  give  him  that  excellent  habit  as 
his  seeing  from  his  very  birth  animals  taken 
great  care  of,  and  treated  with  great  kind- 
ness by  his  parents,  and  now  and  then  hav- 
ing a  little  thing  to  call  his  own" 

It  may  be  amusing  to  compare  this  pas- 
sage, marked  by  the  impress  of  a  masculine 
mind,  with  the  following  from  a  French 
poultry  book,  which  is  so  eminently  French 
that  it  would  suffer  by  a  translation  :  "  Est  il 
quelqu'un  qui,  dans  sa  vie  n'ait  pas  desire 
quelque  fois  d'etre  pigeon  ?  de  gouter  les 
plaisirs  d'un  naturel  si  doux,  d'une  fidelite 
si  tendre  ?  Voici  done  les  plus  heureux  com- 
me  les  plus  aimables  etres  dont  je  me  sois 
occupee  jusqu'  alors,  et  mon  travail  m'occu- 
pera  agreablement." 

When  only  a  few  pigeons  are  kept,  they 


THE  PHEASANT  AND  CURASSOW.     179 

require  no  particular  attention,  and  may  be 
fed  with  the  other  poultry  in  the  barnyard. 

With  regard  to  the  Pheasant  (Phasianus 
colchicus),  which  has  been  naturalized  in 
France  and  England,  and  kept  at  an  im- 
mense expense  in  preserves,  I  am  not  aware 
that  it  has  ever  been  introduced  to  any  ex- 
tent in  this  country.  It  is  a  heavy  bird,  of 
slow  flight,  and  even  if  introduced,  would 
soon  be  extirpated. 

The  Curassow  (Crax  alector],  from  South 
America,  is  a  far  nobler  and  more  useful 
bird.  It  is  as  large  as  a  turkey,  is  already 
domesticated,  and  associates  readily  with 
the  other  poultry,  partaking  of  the  same 
food.  Its  size,  disposition,  and  the  delica- 
cy of  its  flesh,  all  recommend  its  introduc- 
tion here.  It  is  probable  that  it  would  thrive 
best  in  the  more  Southern  States. 

THE    END. 


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